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COEflUGOT DEPOSIT. 




LIFE AND EXPRESSION 



MODERN BREAKING 



A TREATISE ON THE 



Rearing, Breaking and Handling 



SETTERS 
AND POINTERS 



yu 



Embodying the Methods Employed by the Most 

Successful Breakers and Field Trial 

Handlers of the Day. 



ILLUSTRATED. 



THE BLAKELY PRINTING COMPANY 

CHICAGO, ILL. 

1906 



LIBRARY of CONGRESS 
Two Copies RecelvwJ 

FEB 15 1906 

^Croyright Entry 
CLASS Oj XXCNft, 

13 $ $ W 

1 COPY B. 

fV II III 









Entered According to Act of Congress in the Year 1906 by 

WILLIAM A. BRUETTE 
In the Office of the Librarian of Congress at Washington, D. C. 



The Illustraiions in Tins Book 
are from paintings by 
Prof. E. H. Osthaus of Toledo, Ohio. 



CONTENTS 



CHAPTER I. 
Introduction. — Training an art ; knowledge of self ; skill 
required to handle a dog ; ruined dogs ; incompetent 
owners ; professional breakers. 

CHAPTER II. 
Setters and Pointers. — The merits of each and their par- 
ticular sphere of usefulness. 

CHAPTER III. 
Selecting a Puppy. — Pedigrees and their value : rearing : 
kenneling; feeding; diseases of puppyhood ; prevention 
of gunshyness. 

CHAPTER IV. 
Naming Dogs. — Short names the best; compound names a 
nuisance ; originality desirable. 

V. 

Nomenclature. — Breaking and field trial terms ; obsolete 
words ; pointing ; flushing ; backing ; drawing ; roading : 
pottering; blinking; stanch; ranging; quartering; 
snappy, merry style ; bird sense cramped ; loosening up ; 
class ; mutt. 

CHAPTER VI. 

Training Implements. — Whip; whistle; check cord; lead; 
spike collar. 

CHAPTER VII. 
Know Thyself.— Breaking the breaker; pronounced in- 
stincts not intelligence ; mistakes of amateurs ; study- 
ing the young dog. 

CHAPTER VI 11. 
First Lessons.— Introduction to game; developing cour- 
age ; encouraging fondness for field work. 



CHAPTER IX. 

Yard Breaking. — The old lesson of to-ho ; stopping to order ; 
stopping to uplifted hand. 

CHAPTER X. 

Pointing Instinct. — The machinery of the point instinct 
versus intelligence ; steadying the young dog ; dropping 
to wing. 

CHAPTER XI. 

Yard Breaking. — Dropping to order, shot and wing ; walk- 
ing to heel. 

CHAPTER XII. 

Backing. — A form of the pointing instinct ; bad manners ; 
rushing in ; independence of character. 



CHAPTER XIII. 

Ranging. — Quartering; field trial methods; coveys and sin- 
gle birds ; grouse and woodcock dogs ; turning out. 

CHAPTER XIV. 

Retrieving. — Natural and force system ; dangers of the 
spike collar ; a new method. 

CHAPTER XV. 

Gunshyness. — Overcoming fear of the gun. 

CHAPTER XVI. 

Bad Breaking — Faults and Vices. — The trailing dog ; bark- 
ing at horses ; rabbit chasing ; egg sucking ; sheep 
chasing ; howling ; muddy paws. 

CHAPTER XVII. 

Conditioning. — Racehorse methods ; feeding ; exercise ; the 
thermometer ; massage ; plethora ; sore feet ; lameness ; 
clipping. 

CHAPTER XVIII. 
Don'ts. 



CHAPTER I. 



Introduction. — Training an art; knowledge of self; skill 
required to handle a dog ; ruined dogs ; incompetent 
owners ; professional breakers. 



ONE of the first things the amateur should 
learn is that the breaking of setters and 
pointers for field use is not so much of a 
science as it is an art. To know all the conven- 
tional methods of accomplishing certain results 
in dog breaking is one thing, but even with 
this knowledge stored in his head, the breaker 
has much to learn if he would avoid failure. 
He must learn the why and the wherefore of the 
technique of dog breaking, and he must know 
considerable about the psychological side of the 
setter and pointer to make a good application of 
the conventional methods of dog breaking. 

Nor is this all. More important than mere 
technical knowledge of the science of breaking, 
and the peculiarities of setter or pointer dispo- 
sition, is the knowledge of self. To every ama- 
teur and many professionals this knowledge of 
self must seem the simplest part of the art of 
dog breaking to acquire, and yet it will bear 
repetition — it is the most difficult. The human 



io Modern Breaking 

ego is large — very large and extremely sensi- 
tive — and to tell a man he has not sense enough 
to break a dog after he has been told how- 
would seriously offend him. But it is neverthe- 
less true that a man who has done little break- 
ing does not know how to do it, even if he has 
all the rules by heart. The difficulty is he does 
not understand himself as he thinks he does. 
He will do things he may have determined not 
to do, and he will omit to do things he 
had determined upon doing. Then he will 
do things in a different manner from what he 
should do them. Again, there are nerves and 
notions in a man's make-up that never find 
expression until he tries his hand at breaking a 
high-strung setter or pointer. In short, the man 
who starts out to break a setter or pointer with 
the idea that he knows himself will be fooled, 
and the dog, if not entirely spoiled, will fall 
short of that degree of excellence he might 
have reached in the hands of a man who had 
taken the precaution to understand himself be- 
fore he began the task of educating his dog. 

The amateur who becomes reasonably expert 
in breaking his own dog has accomplished more 
than the saving of the one hundred dollars he 
would have paid a trainer. He will have suc- 
ceeded in educating himself as well as his dog, 
so that he knows himself better than he did 
before and will have secured a control over his 



Modern Breaking n 

temper that will be of value to him in all his 
business and social affairs. The bunches of 
nerves which all men possess that go off, as it 
were, at times, upon slight provocation will be 
under better control, and his stock of patience 
and spirit of forbearance will have undergone 
a development that will enable him to view 
former worries with urbanity. 

There is an increased pleasure in shooting 
over a dog of your own development and break- 
ing, and in addition the man who has had some 
insight into the psychological side of a dog's 
nature has in handling even a well-broken dog 
an immense advantage over the man who looks 
at a dog simply as a machine, without knowing 
anything of the art of breaking. 

We have all heard the wail of the man de- 
frauded in buying a dog represented as broken 
which was worse than unbroken, or of the man 
who had sent a dog to a breaker, paid the fee 
and had his dog ruined or returned wilder than 
when he sent him away. The dog, when he 
left his hands, went directly into the hands of 
his master, who, unfamiliar with the methods 
of dog breaking and unqualified to systematic- 
ally go to work with the animal, so as to keep 
him up to all that he knew, was unable to 
control him and allowed him to display ' bad 
tricks or traits of character or develop new 
ones. If sportsmen would go to the trouble of 



12 Modern Breaking 

seeing their dogs hunted for a day or two by 
the breaker, and carefully observe his peculiar 
modes of speech and action with these dogs, it 
would serve as a guide to their own conduct 
toward their dogs in insisting upon their living 
up to their breaking. To be sure there are dis- 
honest breakers, just as there are dishonest 
merchants, ministers and doctors, but the pro- 
fessional handlers of to-day — and there are 
numbers of them — are as reliable as the mem- 
bers of any profession. Their statements can be 
accepted. If a dog which appears wild and 
unbroken is received from a breaker of reputa- 
tion, the sportsman should not jump at the con- 
clusion that he has been defrauded. The dog 
should be given an opportunity to get acquainted 
with his new master, and the owner should 
study himself. Perhaps he does not know how 
to handle a dog. This will be a difficult thing 
for him to confess, and besides, having paid his 
money for a broken dog, he is likely to expect 
too much. A dog is not a piece of machinery 
that can be run with an oil can and wrench. 
He is a bundle of nerves and muscles, energy 
and pronounced instincts. These, properly 
handled, will go far to increase his owner's 
pleasure in the field. Even if the dog were 
simply a piece of machinery, like an automobile, 
the purchaser would not attempt to run it until 
he had received a course of instruction as to 



Modern Breaking 15 

its mechanism, its care and handling. It can be 
stated safely that half the dogs which go out of 
the breakers' into the owners' hands valuable 
animals are next to worthless in a year's time, 
simply because the owner has given no time 
or study to the art of dog breaking. Therefore, 
no one should attempt to direct and handle the 
wonderful and delicate instincts of a high-class 
dog until he knows something of the theory and 
art of dog breaking. No matter how well a 
dog may be broken, the time will come when 
something will go wrong with him. If his 
owner understands dog breaking the fault may 
be corrected. If not, it gets worse and worse, 
and a well-broken dog may be ruined, because 
the owner does not know how to handle him. 
Then there is the man who expects to buy a 
well-broken dog for twenty-five or fifty dollars, 
or hopes to get his dog broken for that amount, 
and finally complains of being cheated and says 
dog men are dishonest. This man is not deserv- 
ing of sympathy. In the first place, he started 
out to get two dollars' worth of goods for one 
dollar in money. This, in the abstract, is just 
as dishonest as disposing of one dollar's worth 
of goods for two dollars in money. Honest 
men never buy green goods. If you cannot 
afford to pay a reputable breaker the regular 
fee of one hundred or one hundred and fifty 



16 Modern Breaking 

dollars for breaking a dog, make up your mind 
to be your own breaker. 

This book is not intended to be a profound 
treatise on the subject of dog breaking, but an 
effort will be made to present in concise form a 
practical work on the subject. ' It will be based 
upon personal experience and observation of the 
best methods of the prominent field trial 
handlers of the day. The reader will find some 
facts in this work that are old, but he will also 
find much that is new. In short, these chapters 
aim to give, in a simple, concise manner, an 
up-to-date method of dog breaking, good for 
either amateur or professional to follow, and to 
explain the whys and wherefores of the art so 
as to enable the man of limited means to be his 
own breaker, and the man of wealth to handle 
intelligently the dog he has had in the hands of 
a professional breaker. 




CHAPTER II. 



Setters vs. Pointers.— The merits of each and their par- 
ticular sphere of usefulness. 



THE relative merits of setters and pointers 
have been the subject of such lengthy 
discussion, and their respective advocates 
display so much energy in ventilating their 
opinions through the columns of the sports- 
men's papers, that the amateur is sometimes 
undecided as to which to select. Without 
taking sides, the subject can be summed up and 
dismissed as being simply a matter of likes. 
No two men are alike, consequently qualities 
that please and completely satisfy one man do 
not appeal to another. There is also a good 
deal in that to which a man has become accus- 
tomed. If pointers suit one man better than 
setters, it simply means that pointers are better 
for him; but it does not follow that the breed 
is better as a whole than setters, and vice versa. 
The principal difference in the two breeds is 
in their coats, for in size and general conforma- 
tion they are quite similar, and if you clip a 
setter you have a pretty fair pointer. There 
are, of course, differences between the various 



18 Modern Breaking 

breeds of setters, as well as between setters and 
pointers. The points of superiority generally 
claimed for the pointers are their ability to 
stand heat, go without water, and escape being 
loaded down and stuck up with burs that soon 
mat a setter's feather and long coat. Pointers 
as a class have the pointing instinct more 
highly developed, are more easily broken, remem- 
ber their training better, and are not so hard to 
control. Setters, on account of their more 
abundant coat, have an advantage in wet, cold 
weather or in facing brambles and briars in a 
rough country. They have usually more dash, 
vim and energy, do not thicken up so quickly 
with age, and improve in their work from 
year to year. 

There are, of course, individual exceptions, 
and some pointers will face brambles and thick- 
ets, take to water and work in cold, stormy 
weather as courageously as any setter ; and 
there are setters which are seemingly as little 
affected by heat and can go as long without 
water as the best pointer. A setter's coat or 
feather can be clipped so that burs will not 
stick to it, and in warm countries, where burs 
are most in evidence, the setter's coat, in a 
generation or two, is scarcely heavier than the 
most satin-skinned pointer. In disposition, 
pointers are not quite so affectionate and com- 
panionable as setters, and show some of the 



Modern Breaking 



19 



traits of their hound ancestry. Setters are 
descended from the spaniels, and generally 
display all of their lovable qualities. 

So far as the beauty of the two breeds is con- 
cerned, that is solely a matter of taste, and 
about difference in tastes there can be no dis- 
pute. There is something distinctive and breedy 
about a clean-cut, statuesque pointer, and there 
is no animal more attractive than an animated, 
silky-coated, soft-eved setter. 




CHAPTER III 



Selecting a Puppy. — Pedigrees and their value ; rearing ; 
kenneling ; feeding ; diseases of puppyhood ; prevention 
of gunshyness. 



FOR the first few weeks of a setter or pointer 
puppy's life it is an odd and most inter- 
esting little animal. Its nose is short and 
blocky, its head a dome, its face a mass of 
wrinkles, out of which its watery blue eyes 
blink lazily ; its body is fat, round and too heavy 
for its stubby legs and clumsy feet, and it 
stumbles and noses about with a curiosity and 
helplessness that are most appealing. 

The apparently profound discourses and the 
detailed instructions for selecting, unfailingly, 
the best puppy in a litter are absurd, and based 
solely on a lack of wisdom. Selecting a puppy 
from a litter when eight or ten weeks old is a 
matter of guesswork. The apparently brightest 
puppy may develp into a dullard ; the weakest 
physically may become the largest. At this 
time pedigree is the only guide to probabilities, 
and with the number of good dogs and reputable 
breeders now in the country, it is not advisable 
to spend either time or money on a setter or 



Modern Breaking 21 

pointer which is not of established ancestry. 
It is not necessary that the puppies' parents or 
grandparents be field trial winners, but they 
should be of stock known to be creditable 
fielders and practical shooting dogs. 

There is such a thing as the careful blending 
of certain blood lines that have produced with 
the greatest regularity high-class dogs. The 
correctness and desirability of the blood lines 
can be determined only by a breeder of ex- 
perience, with a good knowledge of pedigrees. 
The amateur sportsman, who is about to pur- 
chase a high-class puppy, will do well to sub- 
mit its breeding to some authority before clos- 
ing the transaction. Past experience with litters 
of the same breeding, and a knowledge that 
certain blood lines produce dogs uniformly good 
in some respects, but inclined to weaknesses in 
others, as well as the knowledge of certain 
indescribable peculiarities which are common to 
the breed, may possibly prove of some assist- 
ance to a purchaser ; but, on the whole, it is all 
guesswork, and the man who has the last pick 
of a litter has about as good a chance that his 
dog will turn out a winner as the man who had 
the first selection. 

REARING. 

While there is much guesswork about select- 
ing a puppv, its development and growth will 
give full scope to the owner's intelligence and 



22 Modern Breaking 

care. A weak, sickly puppy, with good care 
and intelligent development and breaking, will 
make a better field dog than a fine, healthy 
puppy which is mistreated. Some men are so 
lacking in sympathy and intelligence as to be 
absolutely unfitted to rear any kind of a dog, 
and all the advice and instruction given them is 
wasted. Such men may want to do right, and 
may feel that they are doing right, but they 
neglect the small details that are the price of 
success, and puppies which will develop hand- 
somely in the hands of some men will turn out 
ragged duffers in the hands of others. 

There are disappointments, much misery and 
many real heartaches strewn along the breed- 
ing path. They can be lessened and often 
avoided if the owner will bear in mind that the 
dog is an animal of a high degree of intelli- 
gence, and, like a woman or child, requires 
companionship, amusement and encouragement 
just as much as it does good food and shelter, 
and without them will be dwarfed physically 
and mentally. There are also diseases incidental 
to puppyhood that the owner will do well to 
anticipate. By observing these platitudes, the 
owner will be able to cope with circumstances 
and environments that are never twice alike. 

After the puppy is weaned and taken from 
its mother, it is necessary to provide certain 



Modern Breaking 23 

quarters that it can consider its own. If it is 
decided to keep it in the house or office, con- 
struct a light frame, over which should be 
tacked a piece of canvas or burlap, drawn tight 
like a drumhead. This can easily be kept clean 
by removing and washing, and affords a com- 
fortable bed that is not likely to hold vermin. 
If the puppy is given a rug to sleep on, it should 
be washed and dried weekly, at least. 

It may as well be said here that dogs kept 
out of doors suffer less from exposure than 
those which lie around the house during the 
day and are locked up in a cold barn or kennel 
at night. The exposing to extremes of tempera- 
ture is what is to be avoided, and dogs kept 
out of doors, particularly the long-haired 
breeds, are always more rugged than those 
kept in a warm house. This necessitates the 
building of a kennel, and by all means there 
should be a yard in which the dog may run. 
The expense of construction is very small in 
these days of cheap wire netting, and this dis- 
penses with the collar and chain, that when 
applied to a high-spirited, well-bred, nervous 
puppy form an inhuman contrivance, calculated 
to sour a dog's disposition, irritate him con- 
stantly, and are also responsible for many bad 
shoulders. A puppy needs a companion, and 
it is just as easy to raise two puppies as one. 
Both will do much better, as thev will amuse 



24 Modern Breaking 

themselves and be healthier and happier than 
if confined alone, hour after hour, to fret and 
worry with no break in the monotony except an 
occasional visit of the owner or attendant. 

In building" a kennel for one or two dogs, the 
lumber should be doubled, with an inner lining 
of tar board. The entrance should be at the 
side, with a board placed on the inside at right 
angles to the entrance, so as to act as a wind- 
break. Or, better still, there should be a door 
that will swing both ways. A piece of heavy 
canvas may be hung over the door, that the 
dog soon will learn to push aside when desiring 
to • enter. The kennel can be made with a 
removable top, so that the bedding can be 
removed easily and the inside washed, disin- 
fected and whitewashed. 

A kerosene barrel makes a very good tempo- 
rary kennel. A few shavings burned inside of 
it and then extinguished by turning the barrel 
upside down will thoroughly cleanse it. It is 
warm, as well as water and wind proof. In 
cold weather a canvas flap should be hung over 
the opening. If the kennel is placed under a 
shed open to the south, so much the better, as 
it will then be warmer in Winter and cooler in 
Summer and the shed affords protection from 
either rain or sun, without forcing the dog to 
take refuge in its kennel. In cold weather the 
kennel should be placed inside of a room. 



Modern Breaking 27 

The size of the dog's yard should be at least 
eight or ten feet square, but can be made as 
large as desired, and if situated so as to take 
in a tree or bush so much the better. It is a 
good idea to have a number of fences or small 
hurdles placed across the yard, low at first and 
gradually elevated as the dog grows. In play- 
ing and racing about the yard he is obliged to 
jump these hurdles, which will do much to 
develop the muscles of his back and loins. Black 
dirt is the best ground for a kennel yard, as 
dogs yarded on sand are sure to be affected 
with fleas or lice. These pests the owner must 
fight incessantly with frequen groomings and 
the free use of disinfectants and whitewash. 
Wood ashes mixed with clay well beaten down 
make a good yard, or, better still, wood ashes, 
lime and clay all worked together. The kennel 
and yard should be cleaned at least once a day 
and whitewashed once a week. In warm 
weather, bedding is not absolutely necessary, as 
the dog finds the floor cooler, or if allowed a 
preference will occupy a frame with canvas 
covering, as previously described. Pine shav- 
ings sprinkled with turpentine are not attractive 
to fleas, but for very cold weather, oat straw is 
the best and warmest bedding. This should be 
changed at least once a week. 

FEEDING. 

The subject of feeding is, of course, a matter 



28 Modern Breaking 

of great importance. After weaning, the puppy 
enters the world under independent conditions 
and has, as is to be expected, more or less 
trouble in adapting itself to them. The mother's 
milk is its natural food and must now be 
replaced by cow's milk, and for a time this 
must be the principal article of diet. There is 
a popular but erroneous opinion that fresh milk 
produces worms, and that sour milk destroys 
them. The fact is that milk does not cause 
worms, but on account of its non-irritating ac- 
tion in the intestines, induces the accumulation 
of a large amount of mucus, that is a most 
desirable place for the hatching of the eggs of 
worms and enables them to multiply under 
most favorable conditions. Sour milk has a 
laxative action on the bowels and tends to expel 
this mucus and the worms with it. 

For the first two or three months of a puppy's 
life milk cannot be dispensed with, and any bad 
results from its use will be neutralized largely 
by alternating sour milk with fresh milk, or 
giving sour milk once or twice a week. The 
rule to follow in feeding a puppy is "little and 
often." For the first few days after weaning 
he will lap only fresh milk. This should be 
thickened with stale bread or crackers, or, better 
still, use Spratt's puppy biscuits, as puppies 
thrive on them and the convenience they afford 
amply will repay any sportsman for the slight. 



Modern Breaking 29 

additional expense incidental to their daily use. 
Gradually the proportion of solid food should 
be increased and the amount of liquids de- 
creased. Beef or mutton soups with vegetables, 
such as carrots, tomatoes, onions and potatoes, 
can be substituted gradually for the milk. The 
puppy will thrive rapidly on such food. 

The dog is a carnivorous animal and requires 
more or less of a meat diet. It is well to begin 
feeding a puppy meat when he is three months 
old, in the form of well-boiled mutton or beef 
that is free from fat. Two or three times a 
week, a little raw, lean beef, chopped fine, 
should be fed. • It acts as a tonic to his digestive 
organs, and the good effects will be shown in 
the improved appearance of the dog's coat. He 
must not be given sufficient to satisfy his appe- 
tite or he will refuse to eat anything else, and 
it is highly important at this time that he eat 
a good proportion of the grains, as they contain 
certain elements necessary to the development 
of bone and muscle. 

Feed a two-month-old puppy eight times a 
day. When three or four months old feed six 
times a day ; when five or six months old, five 
times a day ; when eight months old, four times 
a day ; when ten months or a year old, three 
or four times, and when fully grown a light 
meal in the morning and a full meal at night. 
Attend to the feeding yourself and let the puppy 



30 Modern Breaking 

learn to expect you. This will promote confi- 
dence and good feeling. 

At this time certain precautions should be 
taken that will do much to prevent disappoint- 
ments in the future. The high-bred dog of 
to-day has such a sensitive nervous organization 
that gunshyness is unfortunately common, and 
in the mature dog very difficult .to cure. It can 
be avoided by accustoming the puppy to loud 
noises at the time of feeding. This should be 
done gradually. Procure a couple of old pans 
and before feeding and while still at a distance 
from the kennel beat them together loudly. 
When this does not alarm the puppy when done 
at a distance, approach day by day a little 
nearer, until finally he connects the noise with 
his meals. Then begin at a distance with small 
percussion caps, gradually approaching from 
day to day with them, and then substitute for 
caps the small .22-caliber cartridges, and finally 
use small charges of powder or a large revolver, 
until he is not alarmed at the discharge of the 
gun. Of course, if it is seen that the dog is not 
afraid of the gun. it will not be necessary to go 
through all these preliminary stages, but it is 
always well to consider the probability of gun- 
shyness and take means to prevent it. 

DISEASES 0E PUPPYIIOOD. 

The most critical period of a puppy's life is 
from the second to the sixth month, and it is at 



Modern Breaking 31 

this period that his future health and physical 
development are largely determined. The com- 
mon round worm is the greatest source of mor- 
tality, and practically all puppies are infested 
with these pests. No matter how carefully a 
puppy is housed, fed and cared for, or what his 
natural' strength may be, if these parasites are 
not expelled by proper vermifuges, the puppy 
will grow up weak, thin and unthrifty, never 
attain proper development and be liable to rick- 
ets, chorea, indigestion and other diseases. If the 
worms do not eventually terminate his existence 
in a fit or spasm, the vitality of the puppy will 
become so exhausted that he will fall an easy 
prey to distemper, colds, influenza or pneumo- 
nia. The importance of treating all puppies for 
worms at the age of two, four or six months, 
and once or twice a year afterward, cannot be 
urged too strongly upon every dog owner. 
The best remedy for worms is Dent's Vermi- 
fuge. It can be had in either liquid or capsule 
form. The latter are soft, elastic gelatin affairs 
that can be given a puppy without fuss or 
muss, and the proper sized dose is accurately 
determined. This remedy will not only expel 
worms safely and surely, but has in addition an 
excellent tonic effect upon the puppies and will 
do much to build up those young or old dogs 
which are weak and unthrifty. It is superior 
to all other vermifuges, and more economical 



32 Modern Breaking 

and safer to use than anything- the owner can 
have prepared. Your druggist will get this 
remedy for you if you insist upon his doing so. 
By keeping the puppy free from worms, the 
owner will go far toward warding off danger 
from distemper. This disease is peculiar to 
puppvhood, just as measles, whooping cough 
and mumps are peculiar to . childhood. It gen- 
erally appears during or right after teething, 
and is the particular terror of all kennelmen. 
Although dog owners and sportsmen are, as a 
rule, a most intelligent class of men, there has 
been displayed over this disease a most unpar- 
donable amount of ignorance. Nothing is 
gained by attempting to avoid this disease. 
Dogs will get it in spite of all precautions, and 
the only proper course to pursue in the light 
of modern science is to approach it intelligently. 
Some of the theories advanced as to the cause 
of this disease, as well as the rules laid down 
for treatment, are absolutely absurd. Prac- 
tically, the entire materia medica have at some 
time or other been recommended as positive 
cures,, as well as such barbaric practices as 
worming the tail or tongue, the insertion of 
setons and other inhuman practices. Men who 
go about advocating such operations, as well as 
dosing with drugs whose action they do not 
understand, for diseases whose causes they 
know nothing about, should be treated by their 



Modern Breaking 33 

own barbaric methods or safely confined where 
they cannot exploit their ignorance. 

Distemper is due to a specific germ, a micro- 
organism, that gains entrance to the animal's 
system and sets up a ferment in the blood, with 
the symptoms of which all dog men are famil- 
iar. A dog cannot have the disease without 
the germ, and the germ cannot develop spon- 
taneously. It comes from an affected dog, and 
unfortunately this germ is so tenacious of life 
and will exist so long under adverse conditions, 
that it is practically impossible to eradicate it. 
Science has discovered the germ and science 
has discovered how to destroy the germ and 
save the dog. Treating the cause of the dis- 
ease, and not the symptoms, is the only rational 
method of combating distemper. Dent's Dis- 
temperine is the only cure for distemper that 
can be absolutely relied upon. After its discov- 
ery it was made the subject of a great public 
test, through the columns of the sportmen's 
papers, and conclusively proven as a positive 
cure for distemper in its ordinary forms as 
vaccination is for smallpox or antitoxin for 
diphtheria. 

It is easily administered and if the directions 
are carefully followed the danger of losing a 
valuable puppy with distemper or of having 
him afflicted with chorea is minimized. 

There are imitations of this remedy on the 



34 



Modern Breaking 



market that, like all imitations, should be 
avoided; and as it may mean the life of your 
valuable puppy you cannot insist too strongly 
upon your druggist or dealer supplying you 
with the genuine Dent's Distemperine. 

After piloting the puppy safely over the 
shoals of puppyhood, the owner can proceed 
more rapidly with his education, that up to 
this time should have been given with the idea 
of developing his physical and mental possibil- 
ities. Never must the one fact be lost sight of 
— that the dog is a companionable creature of 
pronounced social instincts, which requires 
amusement, companionship and encouragement. 




CHAPTER I V. 



Naming Dogs. — Short names the best; compound names a 
nuisance ; originality desirable. 



THE practice of incumbering a setter or pointer 
with a name that is a combination "of the 
names of all the great dogs in his pedigree 
cannot be too strongly condemned. There is 
nothing to be said in favor of such a practice that 
is not heavily overbalanced by objections. It 
adds nothing to the value of the animal, does 
not increase his attractiveness, and if perchance 
the puppy turns out a winner, it would be far 
better for him to have a short, concise name 
that would individualize him, rather than put 
him in the general family array with dozens of 
other dogs of mediocre or no ability whose 
names are all so much alike that they are gen- 
erally confounded and confused. A dog can 
be a very good dog, a really high-class dog, 
one which will go down into history as such, 
and still have a very plain name that is not 
borrowed from his ancestors with the erro- 
neous idea of securing some of their luster. In 
fact, some, if not most, of the names desired 



36 Modern Breaking 

in every pedigree are short and concise. 
Would the following names appeal any more 
forcibly to breeders if each had a syllable or 
two more and a prefix or suffix: Duke, 
Rhcebe, Dan, Nellie, Leicester, Dart, Rake, 
Fanny, Lit, Clip, Petrel, Druid, Ponto, Moll, 
Bang, Bow, Drake, Sefton, Mike, Priam, 
Croxteth, Jingo, Hops et al. 

A field trial winner or stud dog which has a 
good reputation, with a name of three or four 
words containing twenty or more letters, is at 
a positive disadvantage. His name means noth- 
ing, stands for nothing and is hard to remem- 
ber and frequently confounded. His record 
and individuality are lost in the family connec- 
tions. Give your dog a name of one word with 
as few syllables as possible. If necessary to 
use a prefix, use a short one or your own name 
to distinguish your dog from some other dog 
already registered. 

Gladstone and Count Xoble won field trials 
because they were good dogs, but their names 
alone never carried one of their descendants 
into the second series, and they have had sons 
and daughters which were probably as great 
as they with the single exception that they were 
descendants and not ancestors. No particular 
fertility of mind is necessary to produce an 
original name for a dog. Gladstone is not the 
only statesman a dog could be named after, 



Modern Breaking 



37 



and it is time some of the others were so hon- 
ored, particularly those who have won their 
laurels in our own legislative bodies. For 5,000 
years history has been recording the names of 
statesmen, scholars, philosophers and soldiers. 
Tt would be a good idea to have some dogs of 
to-dav named after them. 




CHAPTER V. 



Nomenclature. — Breaking and field trial terms ; obsolete 
words ; pointing ; flushing ; backing ; drawing ; roading : 
pottering ; blinking ; stanch ; ranging ; quartering ; 
snappy, merry ; style ; bird sense cramped ; loosening 
up ; class ; mutt. 



ALL sports and occupations have their own 
peculiar nomenclature. Field trials and 
other sports, as well as dog breaking, are 
no exceptions, and the commands and expres- 
sions used by breakers have each their partic- 
ular significance that would not be understood 
or accepted if used under different conditions 
or in other channels. Among the terms used as 
commands by breakers and handlers the word 
"charge" is particularly senseless. It has been 
continued in use among amateurs by the var- 
ious writers on dog breaking, who, incapable 
of new ideas and improvements, have produced 
from time to time books on this subject that 
they have industriously copied from the works 
of older writers. There was a time when the 
term was eminently fitting, but conditions have 
changed, and there is no valid reason at the 
present day for ordering a dog to "charge" or 
"down charge," when you want him to do just 



Modern Breaking 39 

the opposite and drop. The military style of 
the word seems, however, to exert a peculiar 
fascination over some men and they give it 
with great flourish on slight provocation. In the 
claws of the muzzle-loading gun, the charging 
of the guns was a matter that required con- 
siderable time, and the dogs were expected to 
lie down while it was being done. The com- 
mand "down charge" was given directly the 
birds were flushed and the guns discharged. 

The down was for the dog, the word charge 
was for the handlers shooting companion and 
signified to him that the guns were now to be 
loaded. With the advent of the breech-loader, 
the remark became superfluous, but in adapting 
terms to new conditions, the mistake was made 
of dropping the wrong word, and there is no 
good reason for longer retaining the term 
"charge" in dog-handling nomenclature. There- 
fore, when you want your dog to drop, say 
drop as quietly as possible. 

The terms on, go on, hie on or hie away, 
sometimes corrupted into "howa," are words 
that explain .themselves and cannot be im- 
proved. The word "to-ho" is used as an order 
for the dog to stop. It is not so harsh sound- 
ing and is easier to pronounce than whoa or 
stop. The words "fetch" or "go fetch" are 
self-explaining and cannot be improved upon. 

In field work and field trial nomenclature 



40 Modern Breaking 

we have the following terms in use for de- 
scribing the work of dogs : Pointing, flushing, 
backing, drawing, roading, pottering, blinking, 
stanch, steady, ranging, quartering, snappy, 
merry, stylish, high-headed, bird sense, cramped, 
loosened up, class, mutts, etc. 

Pointing: A dog is pointing when he indi- 
cates the presence of game by a complete stop. 
If no game is found it is considered a false 
point by the shooter, but in field trials the 
pointing of fur, land turtles or larks is not 
considered a false point. 

Flushing: A dog is said to have flushed 
when he approaches the birds so closely or in 
such a manner as to cause them to take wing. 

Backing: A dog is backing when he comes 
upon another dog pointing and shows his con- 
fidence in the pointing dog by also pointing, 
without having scented game. 

Drawing and roading refer to a dog's manner 
and method of locating a bird after he has the 
scent. If he has the body scent of the bird 
or birds and approaches this scent in straight 
lines, that is, walks boldly up toward the bird 
with his head up, he is said to be drawing on 
birds. If, on the contrary, he pays no attention 
to the body scent, but with his nose to the 
ground follows the trail left by the birds as 
they ran through the grass, he is following 
what is known as the foot scent, and is said to 





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Modern Breaking 43 

be "roading." In many cases it is necessary for 
a dog to road a bird up, but the dog that 
draws on his birds and relies upon the body 
scent is of much higher class. 

Pottering refers to a dog's actions while 
working on birds or the scent of birds. A dog 
which lacks decision in his work and spends 
a great deal of time in foot scent or which 
noses about where birds have been and does 
not seem able to distinguish between old and 
new scent, and fails to locate the birds accur- 
ately, is said to be a potterer. 

Blinking : A dog which is able to find birds 
and point them for a time and then without 
flushing the birds leaves his point and goes 
hunting for another bevy is called a blinker. 
This fault is due sometimes to overtraining, 
extreme nervousness or a sour, sulky disposi- 
tion and is a most difficult one to overcome. 

The word stanch refers to a dog's actions 
while pointing. The word steady refers to his 
actions after the birds are flushed. These two 
words are frequently confused. A dog can 
be properly referred to as stanch when he es- 
tablishes a point on game and holds it without, 
orders or admonititions from his handler, and 
shows no desire to draw closer to the birds. 
A dog is steady to wing when he will allow 
the birds to flush without moving from the 
pointing position. He is steady to shot, if the 



44 Modern Breaking 

same position is maintained while the guns are 
discharged or the game that has been shot is 
on the ground and he shows no inclination to 
move until ordered on by his handler. 

Ranging: By this term reference is made to 
the amount of country a dog covers and the 
distance he goes from his handler. A dog may 
be a close ranger or a wide ranger, but this is 
irrespective of his speed, as a dog may be a 
slow dog and a wide ranger or a fast dog and 
a close ranger. 

Quartering: This refers altogether to the 
way a dog covers a piece of territory and how 
he cuts it up in his quest for birds. A dog is 
sometimes referred to as having a killing 
range when he ranges wide and quarters his 
ground in a manner that is best adapted to the 
country he is hunting over. 

Snappy and merry : These terms refer 
largely to a dog's disposition as expressed by 
his tail action and the energy, vim and anima- 
tion thrown into his work. Some dogs are 
full of action and vivacity and show the great- 
est pleasure and interest in their work. They 
are all energy and are quick in picking up 
points. These dogs are referred to as snappy 
or merry, distinguishing them from dogs which 
are slow, lumbering and plethoric and which 
go about their work more deliberately, as if it 
were pure work, and only a sense of duty or 



Modern Breaking 45 

compulsion was keeping- them at it and not 
real pleasure, interest and love of hunting. 

Style : This word refers altogether to a dog's 
general appearance when hunting and on point. 
Some dogs move very gracefully with their 
heads up and when pointing or backing throw 
themselves into the most striking and pictur- 
esque attitudes. 

Bird sense : A dog's knowledge of the hab- 
its of birds and the places they are most likely 
to occupy at different times of the day and in 
different weathers, as indicated by his searching 
out these spots, is what constitutes "bird sense." 
Some dogs possess this attribute to a very high 
degree while in others it is completely lacking. 

Cramped : A field trial dog is said to be 
cramped in his work when he has been worked 
so much and shot over so heavily that he does 
not go at his best clip, such as he could sus- 
tain for a thirty-minute round with plenty of 
style and action, but goes at more of an all-day 
gait, and is over-solicitous for the success of 
the gun and the presence of the handler. 

Loosening up : This consists of giving a dog 
road work — taking him off game and running 
him in short heats, so as to get him in the 
habit of running brilliantly for thirty or forty 
minutes and increasing his desire for work. 

Class : A dog which possesses and displays 
a preponderance of all the desirable qualities 



46 Modern Breaking 

enumerated heretofore is said to have class 
or to be a class dog. This means that he is 
a wide, rapid ranger, high-headed, with plenty 
of animation and tail action, working his 
ground with good judgment, always keeping 
out at work, never coming in to his handler 
until ordered to do so, searching out ail the 
likely nlaces, hunting for and locating birds 
by body scent, never pottering over old scent, 
but going straight up to his birds and pointing 
stylishly. 

Mutt : A dog which possesses none of the 
valuable attributes of a class dog, or one which 
is lacking in aggressive, independent hunting 
instincts, even if he is successful in finding 
birds, is referred to as a mutt. This word is 
probably a corruption of mutton or mutton- 
head, and is the most contemptuous term in 
field trial nomenclature. 



CHAPTER VI. 



Training Implements. — Whip; whistle; check cord; lead 
spike collar. 



EVERY breaker should provide himself with 
a whip, whistle, one long check cord, a 
lead and a choke or spike collar. This 
latter instrument is a dangerous affair in some 
men's hands, and if the amateur's temper is un- 
certain it is not advisable for him to trust him- 
self with a spike collar. A good whip is, how- 
ever, a necessity, even if it is carried for little 
more than a badge of authority. It can be 
truly stated that there is not a good, practical, 
serviceable whip suitable for the breaker's use 
in the market. 

There are any number of dog whips, but un- 
fortunately the men who designed them did not 
have an intelligent conception of the proper 
sphere of the breaker's art. They have fol- 
lowed old English patterns and produced great 
clumsy affairs, with the butts loaded with lead, 
like a slung-shot, heavy enough to stun a bul- 
lock, or with handles mounted with whistles 
that will not blow, and the lashes are gener- 
ally brutal affairs, elaborately braided and 



48 Modern Breaking 

knotted, that are calculated to leave the flesh 
bruised or swollen. 

THE WHIP. 

The accompanying illustration is of a whip 
designed by the writer that will be found to 
answer all the purposes of the modern breaker. 
It is light, easily rolled up and carried in the 
pocket, and will last for years. The flat- 
tapered strap that forms the lash punishes a 
dog as severely as is necessary without leaving 
any unnecessary bruises or continuous pain. 
There is just the difference between punishing 
a dog with this kind of a whip and the ordi- 



THB WHIP 

nary dog whip that there is between the spank- 
ing a mother will administer with a slipper 
and the injury a vicious parent might inflict 
with a rawhide. 

The whip can be made easily by any worker 
on leather. Take a strip of rawhide thirty- 
two inches long and two and one-quarter 
inches wide for six inches, and then taper it 
down to three-sixteenths of an inch. The six 
inches is to form the handle and should have 
the edges brought together and sewed ; a snap 
or ring can be attached to the handle if con- 




CHAMPION LADY'S COUNT GLADSTONE 



Modern Breaking 51 

sidered desirable. The edges of the lash 
should be carefully smoothed and rounded. If 
a snap is sewed into the end of the handle 
of the whip, a ring can then be sewed into 
the hunting coat, either upon the inside or the 
outside, so that the whip when not in use can 
be snapped to it. If a ring is used the snap 
will, of course, be attached to the coat. The 
breaker who once uses a whip of this kind 
will never go back to one of the old-fashioned 
English affairs. The amateur must bear in 
mind that it is not always the amount of pun- 
ishment a dog receives that does him the most 
good. Much depends upon the way it is ad- 
ministered. The breeder who gets excited and 
angry and scolds the dog while he uses the 
whip frightens the dog so that he has no chance 
to know why he is being punished. All the 
desired effect is thus lost and the dog becomes 
cowed and whipshy. 

Whenever it becomes necessary to use the 
whip, the strokes should be laid on slowly, and 
the last should be the lightest. The breaker 
should be calm and speak in a mild tone of 
voice, moderating his tone with each stroke un- 
til at last, when the whip is barely laid on the 
giving the dog plenty of time for reflection. 
Then he should slowly roll up his whip, put it 
in his pocket and speak pleasantly to the dog. 
In the next place, the dog should be kept at 



52 



Modern Breaking 



dog's back, his voice will be little above a 
whisper. After the punishment the dog should 
be kept down and the breaker should remain at 
his head, perfectly quiet, for a few moments, 
he can then be sent away and will probably go 
good naturedly to his work. A moderate whip- 
ping administered in this way soon will make 
the dog understand why he has been punished 
and prevent him from repeating the fault, 
whereas a severe whipping frightens, discon- 
certs and cows the dog and prevents his further 
understanding of the philosophy of punishment. 

It is a good plan to make a dog thoroughly 
acquainted with the whip by allowing him to 
see it often. He should be led frequently by the 
whip for this reason. Again, the whip should 
be laid often on his back good-naturedly, all for 
the purpose of having the animal understand 
that the whip of itself is harmless. With a 
whipshy dog the sight of a whip fills him with 
terror as a gun frightens a gunshy dog. So 
that at all times, before he has ever been struck 
with a whip and after he has felt its force, the 
dog should become familiar with it and be made 
to know that there is no occasion for being 
frightened at a mere sight of it. After being 
taught to retrieve he should be frequently prac- 
ticed at fetching the whip. s 

While the use of the whip is perfectly proper 
on occasions, it may be set down as a safe 



Modern Breaking 53 

proposition that more harm than good is done 
with the whip. Old hands at the business know 
from experience when and how to use the whip, 
but the amateur is likely to be too free with it. 
The longer a man breaks dogs, the less he is 
inclined to use the whip. When he does use it 
the occasion will be when he can make such a 
direct application of the punishment that it will 
be associated with the offense for which the dog 
was corrected. It should be stated, too, that old 
handlers wait until they catch a dog in the act, 
and then ply the lash effectively, making the 
dog know just why he was punished. Unless 
the punishment can be inflicted immediately on 
the commission of an offense, it is better to let 
the dog off with a slight scolding. 

i'llE WHISTLE. 

There are innumerable whistles on the mar- 
ket, and although the sounds they produce are 
satisfactory in tone and volume, they fail never- 
theless to answer in a highly satisfactory way 
the breaker's purposes. A whistle of buckhorn. 
wood or rubber is to be preferred to one of 
metal but the trouble with most whistles is that 
the mouthpiece is too short and necessitates the 
breaker holding the whistle to his mouth. What 
he really needs is a whistle with a good long 
mouthpiece that his lips will retain without any 
assistance from the hand. 
- The dog should be accustomed to one whistle 



54 Modern Breaking 

and be taught to disregard all other whistles. 
One particular kind of blast should be used on 
all occasions except when the dog refuses to 
recognize the first blast. Then the whistle 
should be louder and more shrill, and it will be 
well when it becomes necessary to repeat an 
order with the whistle to draw the whip and 
crack it, repeating the blasts of the whistle 
several times. 

Generally speaking, the whistle is used to 
make the dog turn when quartering, to come in 
or merely to attract the dog's attention. When 
it is used to make the dog turn when ranging 
the single blast serves the purpose. If it is 
desired to have him come in, the whistle should 
be blown again when he gets nearer the breaker. 
When it is blown merely to attract his attention, 
the order which follows it shows the dog what 
he is expected to do, so that while the same 
order from the whistle is given for at least 
three distinct purposes there is really no conflict. 

CHECK CORD. 

The long check cord should be twenty or 
twenty-five feet long, of the best cotton cord 
obtainable and of a diameter about that of a 
lead pencil. A coat of oil will improve it. One 
end should be carefully bound and wrapped with 
a waxed thread, and to the other end should be 
smoothly attached a small snap, so that the cord 
can be quickly attached to the dog's collar. This 



Modern Breaking 55 

cord can be used for a variety of purposes and 
results can be accomplished with it and an im- 
pression made upon the dog's mind that will be 
more lasting and satisfactory than when ac- 
complished with the whip. The check cord is 
used sometimes with a plain collar or in con- 
nection with a choke or spike collar. 

Some breakers use the check cord for the 
purpose of punishing the dog, preferring it to 
the whip. To some extent it is useful for this 
purpose, but carried too far its usefulness is 
destroyed. When a dog is on a point and the 
gun is discharged at the rising bird it is well to 
check the dog sharply. with the line to make him 
drop to shot and wing, but the whip should be 
drawn quickly and the dog given a cut or two 
to compel prompt obedience. This should be 
done rather than to continue the checking. The 
cord is useful, too, when the dog breaks in or 
attempts to flush. As he starts he should be 
jerked back sharply and given a few lashes, 
compelling him to drop at the place lie should 
have gone down to shot or wing. 

The long check cord is useful in forcing a 
dog to "come in." He should be taken to an 
inclosure, and when at the end of the cord 
should be ordered sharply to come in. Accom- 
panying the order, a severe check should be 
given the dog, and this should be continued 
until he comes to the breaker. When he comes 



56 Modern Breaking 

in he should be stroked gently and spoken to 
kindly. 

Coming to the crack of the whip is taught in 
the same way, the whip being cracked with one 
hand while the dog is checked with the other. 
When he comes in the whip should be laid 
gently on his back while the breaker speaks 
kindly to him. These lessons should be con- 
tinued until he can be called in to the crack of 
the whip from a distance. 

LEAD. 

The short check cord, or lead, is another 
appliance that manufacturers have failed to 




THE LEAD 

provide satisfactorily for breakers. There are 
many leads on the market ; some are too light 
and of flimsy construction, others are too heavy 
and clumsy or unnecessarily mounted with 
elaborate snaps and swivels. The leather 
worker who makes your whip, as before 
described, can make you a lead that will be 
found very useful in leading a dog to and from 



Modern Breaking 57 

the field or in keeping him in hand during his 
other lessons. 

The lead should be made out of a strip of 
rawhide six feet long and three-quarters of an 
inch wide. One end should be doubled back 
and sewed so as to form a six or seven inch 
loop for the handhold. At the other end should 
be sewed a metal oval, through which the end 
of the strap can be passed, to form a sliding 
loop collar that can be easily passed on or off 
over a dog's head. Where the strap comes in 
contact with the dog's neck it should be left full 
width, but between that part and the hand grasp 
the lead can be lightened by trimming it down 
to three-eighths or one-half inch, and it will 
still be strong enough. 

THE SPIKE COLLAR. 

There has been considerable improvement in 
spike collars. One that was in use a number of 
years ago was made of wooden balls, studded 
with sharpened wire nails. A hole, three-eighths 
of an inch in diameter, was bored through the 
wooden balls, and four of them were strung on 
a cord, separated by knots and adjusted to the 
dog's neck, as a sliding noose. This inhuman 
affair, has passed out of use. The only prac- 
tical spike collar that has ever been on 
market is what is known as the B. Waters' 
spike collar. It was originally described in 



58 



Modern Breaking 



Air. Waters' book., "Modern Training and 
Handling," and consists of a strap about 
one and one quarter inches wide, one end of 
which passes through an oval, forming a sliding 
noose that is mounted with six or eight spikes. 
These collars can be obtained by addressing 
Air. Bernard Waters, 346 Broadway, New York. 




CHAPTER VII, 



Know Thyself. — Breaking the breaker ; pronounced in- 
stincts not intelligence ; mistakes of amateurs ; study- 
ing the young dog. 



BEFORE attempting to tell the reader how 
he should proceed to break his setter or 
pointer, it seems best that the breaker him- 
self be taken in hand. He cannot be broken in 
one short lesson, but some things can be pointed 
out that will be useful to him in the future. He 
may not take this lesson to heart in the very 
beginning, as he should, but after he has had 
moderate success with his first dog, he may 
turn back to this chapter, and in the light of his 
experience profit by what is here set down. 

The breaker will not journey far on the road 
of breaking before his young dog will do some 
foolish thing calculated to move every energy 
in a calm man, and the man will be moved and 
the dog will be injured. It is well to know this 
logic of events. To be sure, the breaker will 
say to himself in a general way that he will be 
patient, calm and will not be annoyed. That is 
because he does not know himself ; because he 
has never been put to the test. The young dog 
will do the most unexpected thing in the most 



60 Modern Breaking 

unusual way at the most inopportune time, and 
the breaker will be caught off his guard, and 
when he feels the fire of his wrath burning in 
every fiber of his makeup, he will most likely re- 
lieve his feelings with his whip. And then a 
lot of mischief will have been done that will 
require weeks and perhaps months to repair. 

Of course, the breaker will console himself 
with the thought that he was not to blame, and 
that the dog deserved a good whipping. To 
him it will appear that the dog should have 
known how to do the simple thing he was 
asked to do, and the breaker is certain he 
knew how, but refused in a malicious spirit 
of wilfulness. Here is where the breaker 
makes a serious mistake. The dog did not 
know anything about the simple matter the 
breaker sought to teach him, and he became 
"rattled" the moment the breaker showed any 
signs of irritation. As soon as the animal lost 
its head the punishment made him worse. 

While the intelligence of the dog, particularly 
the setter and the pointer, is admitted, we are 
not to measure the dog's brain by any senti- 
mental consideration. A dog less than one year 
old, it should be borne in mind, has seen very 
little of the world, and no matter how much 
intelligence he may have of what his predispo- 
sition to know things may be, he has not had 
the opportunity to secure much knowledge. 



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Modern Breaking 63 

The breaker must bear this in mind. He must 
not expect more from a yearling dog than from 
a four-year-old child. 

The fact is, and the breaker should give this 
great weight, if the matter be intelligently con- 
sidered, a man of sound judgment must con- 
clude that a yearling dog is a pretty soft crea- 
ture in the matter of brains. He may be a 
bundle of nerves and he may have a lot of pro- 
nounced instincts, but all this is not intelligence 
nor the abiding place of judgment or much 
knowledge. Too much stress cannot be put 
upon this consideration of the young dog's 
mental capacity, for an overestimate of this 
quality is the primary cause of the ruination 
of many a young dog of good natural quality. 
If the breaker will take this at its true value 
it will put him in the way of educating him- 
self as to his own conduct toward the dog. 
This done, he can decide to view with calmness 
those aggravating things his dog may do. He 
can know the importance of holding his own 
temper and persevering with his dog in spite 
of the dog's apparent disposition to refuse to 
do things he should do. The breaker, when he 
learns that he, instead of the dog, is at fault, 
will learn to vary his methods and lead the dog 
into the way of doing things. That is what 
constitutes a larger part of the genius of dog 



64 Modern Breaking 

breaking. It finds its first inspiration in a 
knowledge of self. 

STUDYING THE YOUNG DOG. 

It is a very simple matter to say that differ- 
ent methods must be pursued with different 
clogs, but that is not enough. The breaker 
should know the things that make the essential 
difference before he can successfully lay out 
his plan of breaking. It becomes, therefore, 
a matter of first importance to study the young 
dogs which the breaker is about to develop. 

To begin with, the breaker should know 
something of pedigree, for certain well-bred 
dogs, where they are of a particular breed or 
strain, have what might be termed family char- 
acteristics. Some of these are useful for the 
purpose of the breaker, while others are not. 
When the breaker knows these family traits of 
disposition, he will look for them in the young 
dog, and so handle him that the good will go 
on developing and the bad will be checked. It 
is much easier for the breaker to anticipate 
these things and be prepared than it is to go on 
and, because of the want of a little knowledge, 
have a lot of latent quality in his young dog 
undeveloped, while whatever of evil that was 
born in him takes its place. 

Dogs, for example, which are extremely ner- 
vous as a result of long-continued inbreeding, 



Modern Breaking 65 

must not be treated like colder-blooded dogs. 
The former have pronounced instincts, backed 
by a sensitive nervous organization, and they 
proceed in the most natural way to do the most 
aggravating things. Their instincts are so 
highly developed and are so superior to their 
intelligence that they move with a kind of 
mechanical precision, and their judgment in 
the beginning plays little part in their work. 
Their likes and dislikes are of very intense 
character, and unless the breaker understands 
this he will make the serious mistake of sup- 
posing the dogs to be headstrong and wilful. 
More young dogs are ruined for want of a 
knowledge of these facts by the breaker than 
for any other reason. Some dogs may, as a 
matter of fact, be extremely timid, but the 
intense love for work may make them appear to 
be high-cou raged. A few severe whippings 
for the purpose of checking this ardor may cow 
them and set them back a long way in their ed- 
ucation. Indeed, they may be ruined by the 
breaker, who mistakes an intense natural love 
for work for high courage. 

The really high-couraged dog may be checked 
without receiving a serious setback. Indeed, 
it often hurries his good work and keeps him 
from doing further damage. But the breaker 
must be certain of his dog before he selects his 
method. He must study his dog, and if he 



66 Modern Breaking 

will do this without attempting to break him 
he will soon be able to distinguish between a 
sensitive, timid, highly developed, nervous dog 
and one which is simply high-couraged. 

While the young dog is about the kennel and 
before he is taken afield, the breaker will have 
a good chance to study his disposition. If he 
is treated kindly he will be likely to show a 
great deal of boldness, even if he is naturally 
timid. But the breaker must not be misled by 
this, nor must he suppose he is timid because 
he is not bold. Some high-couraged dogs are 
the very opposite of nervous and are not easily- 
moved to do those things which a bold dog 
will do. The nervous, high-bred dog is in- 
quisitive and loves to be on the move, and will 
show a disposition to investigate all manner 
of things he does not fear. Once he becomes 
frightened, if he is really of a timid nature, 
he loses that love of investigation, that boldness 
that is so necessary to a young dog. Great 
care, therefore, should be taken with the young 
dog to allow him to have his own way, so that 
the natural bent of his disposition may be de- 
termined. He should be encouraged to do 
whatever pleases him and seldom corrected with 
even hard words. He may be led about on 
a lead and made familiar with things gener- 
ally, no attempt being made to force him up 
to any object of which he appears afraid, or 



Modern Breaking 67 

to check him for extreme boldness. The 
breaker at this time should bear in mind that 
he is only studying the dog's disposition, not 
trying to teach him what to do and what not to 
do. Care, however, must be taken not to allow 
the dog to get into trouble. There are so many 
disagreeable tilings a high-strung, active young 
dog is likely to do when out for a walk that it 
would be impossible to enumerate them. The 
breaker must anticipate them in the beginning 
and so shape his actions as to avoid them as 
far as possible. Once the mischief has been 
done, it would not be well to correct the young 
dog for his fault. It would not undo the mis- 
chief, whatever it might be ; it would do the 
voting dog no good and might work harm that 
would require a long time to offset. What the 
breaker really wants is to have the young dog 
bold, fearless and disposed to follow the 
promptings of his instincts when first taken 
afield. The breaker, in the first instance, sim- 
ply needs to know his dog. 



CHAPTER VIII. 



First Lessons. — Introduction to game ; developing courage ; 
encouraging fondness for Held work. 



IT was a very common practice a quarter of 
a century ago to put the young dog through 
a series of kennel lessons before he was 
taken to the field. This practice is still fol- 
lowed by some breakers. But the most success- 
ful handlers of the day do no yard breaking 
at all until the young dog has been introduced 
to game. This has become more and more the 
practice as our bird dogs reached a higher and 
higher state of nervous development. The 
modern setter and pointer are too nervous to 
stand yard breaking in the beginning. It cows 
them and a long time is wasted getting them 
over it and making them fit to learn field work. 
Sometimes a whole season is lost, and often 
the utter ruination of what promised to be a 
good dog is simply the result of his having 
been yard broken before he was taken to the 
field. The first real lesson in breaking there- 
fore, should be given in the field, and this les- 
son is a very simple one. It consists merely of 



ffl 

o 

B > 

2 Z 




Modern Breaking 71 

permitting the young clog to do about as he 
pleases. 

While the dog lias had no real kennel break- 
ing, it may fairly be supposed that he knows 
his name, will lead kindly on a chain or check 
cord and is on good terms with his handler. 
Taken into the field in this condition, if more 
than six ' months old, he is in splendid con- 
dition to begin his education. When first taken 
to the field he should be led a part of the way, 
and when the lead is taken off he should be 
permitted to do pretty much as he pleases. A 
locality should be selected that is free from 
noise, and, of course, the breaker will take no 
companion with him. If he has another dog 
he should be left at home. 

If there is any wind stirring, the course 
should be selected so that the breaker and his 
dog will go into the breeze. A dog naturally 
w'ill range better when facing the wind than 
when crossing it or going down wind. Be- 
sides, it tends to keep the dog's head up, and 
if there are birds on the course the young dog 
will get a better taste of the scent. 

Possibly the young dog will not range when 
first cast off. He may trot along at his hand- 
ler's heels or he may go away a few feet, sniff 
about and run back to his handler again. But 
what of that' Everything is strange to the 
young dog, and he does not like to leave his 



72 Modern Breaking 

breaker. In such an event the handler should 
walk along slowly without paying any atten- 
tion to the dog. Above all things, he should 
not try to force the dog to range. The moment 
he attempts to do that the dog becomes impressed 
with a fear of the things that he is only a little 
in doubt about. If left alone until accustomed 
to his surroundings, he would find there was 
nothing to hurt him, and then he would do a 
little running and then a little more, until 
finally he would come to love the work. But 
if the breaker insists on meddling with him a 
serious mistake will be made. 

It is a good deal of an aggravation to go 
tramping about the fields with a young dog 
which will not go away, but that is a part of 
dog breaking, and the breaker must take the 
philosophical view of it. He should walk along 
quietly and slowly without speaking to the dog, 
and then go home, trying to feel at least that 
his young dog has behaved extremely well. The 
following day the same lesson should be re- 
peated, and if the dog still refuses to range a 
new locality should be selected for the third 
outing, and this line of work should be con- 
tinned until the dog shows some disposition 
to get out and hunt. Patience and good judg- 
ment are all that are necessary to get the dog to 
range. No amount of coaxing or force can do 
it. On the contrary, they only retard the work. 



Modern Breaking 73 

But most young clogs will start right out to 
hunting. If the dog does this, simply let him 
go. If he is extremely bold, it may be well 
enough to whistle him in occasionally, or 
rather, to try to do it, for in all probability he 
will not answer a whistle. But he must know 
the whistle later, and this will serve as an in- 
troduction. However, great care must be taken 
at this period not to affect his boldness. If 
he shows the least sign of irritation at an at- 
tempt to direct him, the breaker should desist. 

The purpose of these first lessons is to make 
the young dog bold ; to give him some idea of 
ranging for game, and finally to let him scent 
out and see birds. The dog will love this work 
once he has done it. The sight and smell of 
birds will increase his ardor, so that no matter 
if he should be cowed a little when the work 
of breaking begins, his spirits can be revived 
by the work in the field. Thus prepared for 
his yard breaking-, whenever that has been 
severe enough to give the young dog a setback 
the work in the field that he has learned 
to love will always raise his spirits. The two, 
then, can be carried on profitably together. 
But the fact should be impressed upon the 
breaker that he must not be in too big a hurry 
to begin the yard breaking. Give the young 
dog plenty of field work first. Let him romp 
and flush and chase and have a good time. 



74 



Modern Breaking 



Of course this good work must not be car- 
ried too far, and it is a mere matter of judg- 
ment with the breaker when it has gone far 
enough If permitted to continue unchecked 
the young dog will develop a love for flushing 
and chasing of which it will be difficult to 
break him. When he is just right — bold, fear- 
less and in love with field work — his yard 
breaking- mav be commenced. 




CHAPTER IX. 



Yard Breaking. — The old lesson of to-ho ; stopping to order 
stopping to uplifted hand. 



AS stated in a previous chapter, the yard 
training of a dog is by the best trainers 
deferred until the young dog has had some 
experience on game, and nothing is at- 
tempted in the way of getting the prospective 
pupil under control that might possibly affect 
his courage, dash and energy. 

Most amateurs, however, are anxious to be- 
gin working with their dogs, and, as the ama- 
teur breaker has much to learn in the way 
of controlling himself as well as the dog, there 
is no better way for him to occupy his time 
than to teach his dog to "to-ho" at his food 
every day at feeding time. It is an old-fash- 
ioned lesson that professional trainers seldom 
spend any time on. Its utility may be doubt- 
ful to the experienced handler, but it is a val- 
uable lesson for the amateur, as it gives him an 
insight into the technique of breaking and an 
opportunity to study his pupil, as well as a con- 
trol over his own feelings that will assist him 
further on in the art. A dog is taught to 



76 Modern Breaking 

"to-ho" by patience and kindness, and without 
the use of a whip, so there is no danger of cow- 
ing the young dog; and it educates the breaker. 
These are the reasons for introducing a lesson 
that is sometimes considered obsolete. 

Before this lesson is given the dog should 
be taken for a short walk, just to get him in 
a nice humor. Place the dish of food on the 
ground and hold him near it, saying in a 
pleasant voice, "To-ho. 1 ' This should be re- 
repeated, and if the dog twists about, as he is 
most likely to do, no attention should be paid 
to it. The breaker should gently straighten 
him out toward the dish and say, "To-ho," oc- 
casionally in a low tone. 

The dog must not be kept at this too long, 
and the breaker must not look for anything like 
an approach to what is desired. If he does, he 
will be disappointed and annoyed. All he can 
expect is to familiarize the young dog with the 
word and the handling. The dog will not get 
even a faint idea of what is wanted. After 
he has been allowed to eat a few mouth fuls, 
he should be led away, and then put through 
the lesson again. All this should be done in a 
spirit of good nature bordering on playfulness. 
The breaker, if he has any notions of force in 
his head, should get rid of them, for he will 
make more haste by going slowly at this period. 
In fact, it will be well to bear this injunction in 



Modern Breaking 77 

mind at all times. When this first lesson is 
over the breaker should take a short walk with 
his young dog, for companionship is of great 
importance in breaking. A little walk after a 
lesson cements a friendship that may have been 
slightly strained by the lesson. The dog likes 
it and should be encouraged to look for it after 
each lesson. It makes the next lesson easier, as 
the dog will enter into it with good feeling 
and an absence of fear. 

These "to-ho" lessons should be continued at 
each meal until the dog will stand a few feet 
from the dish until he is ordered to "go on." 
He should not be kept standing long and the 
lesson should not be repeated too often. About 
three times at each meal is enough. While the 
dog is standing at the dish the breaker should 
stroke him gently and encourage him to take a 
step or two toward the dish. This will tend 
to give him an idea of stopping to order after 
moving. If all this is done properly, the young 
dog will take an interest in it and eventuallv 
enjoy it. To this end these first lessons should 
be given, nothing in the way of force being 
used further than to hold the dog in position. 

Eventually the dog will be expected to stand 
alone at his dish of food, waiting for the order 
to go on, but when he is first let alone he will 
move up without this order. This is to be ex- 
pected, and the breaker must not be irritated, 



78 Modern Breaking 

but should take the dog- back to his proper 
place and hold him a moment, continuing this 
until the dog will stand alone. When he has 
been somewhat perfected in this, he should be 
taken back several yards, with a check cord at- 
tached to his collar, and allowed to walk to- 
ward the dish, but when about half way he 
should be stopped. He may turn backward to- 
ward the breaker when he feels the cord check 
him, but the movement should be anticipated, 
and before he can do what he intended -he 
should be caught by the breaker and held in 
place. In time, by patience and perseverance, 
the dog will learn, not only to remain station- 
ary when he hears the word, "To-ho," but 
will learn to stop at the same command. 

All this will take time. What the dog should 
do, and what he will do, are different things. 
He will be sure to do the wrong thing more 
often than it would seem he should, but if this 
is expected and treated as a matter of course, 
more progress will be made than if the breaker 
should show any signs of irritation. 

After the dog has become accustomed to 
standing and stopping to order, he may be 
taught to "draw" on the dish, moving and 
stopping at command. 

It is of the first importance that these lessons 
be given in a quiet place, away from other dogs. 
No person, nor in fact anything, should be 



Modern Breaking 81 

near to attract the clog's attention. Some 
breakers teach their young dogs to drop in con- 
nection with this lesson, but the breaker will 
find considerable difficulty in keeping the dog 
on his feet while being taught to "to-ho." This 
is only heightened if the dog has been taught to 
drop. With the two things to think of, the 
young dog is likely to get confounded and may 
make a bad mess of it all. 

Inasmuch as the dog will drop when he is 
expected to stand, the breaker should pay little 
attention, particularly in the earlier lessons. As 
he grows bolder and gets over the first stages 
of fright he will be more disposed to stand. 

After the young dog has become bold and 
takes some interest in these lessons at feeding 
time, he may be advanced a little further in the 
matter of stopping to order. A little force 
may now be used. Put a check cord, say ten 
feet in length, on the dog, and make the other 
end fast to a post. Before doing this measure 
off the distance from the post to a point which 
the dog would reach with the line taut. Put 
a short check cord on the dog and hold one end 
in the hand. Now lead the dog to the post, 
then start for the point already marked at a 
quick pace. Just before the dog reaches that 
point the breaker should say "To-ho" sharply, 
and at the same time step a few feet in front 
of the dog, being certain to hold the short 



82 Modern Breaking 

check line tight — the dog being fast between 
two lines cannot move. He is forced to stand, 
and the application of the force is so direct, 
and all is done so quietly, that it does not 
cow the dog. He may show a little fear at 
this treatment at first, but soons learns what is 
required and will do the work good-naturedly. 

The breaker should understand in the begin- 
ning that the young dog will be sure to face 
him, and by anticipating this the dog will be 
prevented from getting into a bad habit. All 
that is necessary for the breaker to do is to 
stop in front of the dog. After a time he may 
stop in front of him for a while and then get 
behind, but at first he should be sure to lay 
his hands on and stroke him, and before the dog 
can turn he should step back of him again. 

After the dog has been led from the post to 
the mark a few times the direction should be 
changed. Later the locality should be changed 
and the length of the line altered. 

When the dog is proficient in this he should 
be taught to "to-ho" in the field. Of course he 
will not stop the first time when ordered to 
do so, but after he has been ordered and re- 
fuses, he should be caught and made to stand 
at the place he should have stood, but this 
force should be of a gentle character, and by no 
means should a whip be used. This is all new 
work to the dog, and any refusal to obev an 



Modern Breaking 83 

order is for want of knowing how, rather than 
because of any wilfulness. After learning to 
stop to order when close by the breaker, the 
dog will soon learn to stop at any distance. 
In this connection it should be said that when- 
ever the order to stop is given the breaker 
should raise his right hand. This should be 
done in the earlier lessons and should be con- 
tinued until the dog comes to associate the 
raising of the hand with the order to "to-ho," 
and in time the verbal order may be omitted 
and the dog taught to stop at sight of the 
raised hand. This lesson may be given occa- 
sionally while the dog is out for a romp, and 
right here it may be well to remind the breaker 
that the field work is to be kept up while the 
yard breaking is carried on. Whatever de- 
pressing effect the yard breaking may have will 
be removed by a romp in the fields. 

When the dog is bold and will stand well to 
the verbal order or uplifted hand, he may be 
taught to drop. Meanwhile it will do no harm 
to allow the youngster to retrieve in a spirit 
of playfulness. It tends to keep up his spirits 
and chasing a soft ball that can be handled 
easily will be fun for the dog. But at this 
period no serious attempt should be made to 
teach retrieving any further than the dog ap- 
pears willing to learn. The serious part of re- 
trieving will come later, when the dog should 
be taught by the force system. 



CHAPTER X. 



Pointing Instinct. — The machinery of the point instinct 
versus intelligence ; steadying the young dog ; dropping 
to wing. 



SETTERS and pointers are not taught to 
point in the sense that they are made to 
do other things that are a part of their ed- 
ucation, for pointing is instinctive and there- 
fore a natural quality. But pointing as a raw, 
instinctive product and pointing in a thor- 
oughly broken setter or pointer are different 
things, and the quality of the ripe point de- 
pends very largely on the way it has been de- 
veloped. It is this development of the point- 
ing instinct with which the breaker has to deal. 
But let us study briefly the nature of the 
pointing instinct as we find it in a young dog 
which has never known the sight or scent of 
game. The pointing instinct is very complex 
and in its entirety depends upon the nervous 
and muscular development as well as on the 
nose. Indeed, the nose has but little to do 
with it, any further than to inspire the point. 
The scent of game is pleasant to the dog, just 
as some particular kind of food is pleasant. 
But the scent of game always has been asso- 






Modern Breaking 85 

ciated with the muscular and nervous action 
which constitutes the point proper, and the in- 
stant the dog feels the scent in his nose the 
pointing- machinery, either as a whole or in 
part, is set in motion. The dog's judgment or 
intelligence has nothing to do with this. The 
nerves and muscles act independently and me- 
chanically. Sometimes, and in fact as a gen- 
eral rule, the first attempt at a point will be 
a failure. The whole pointing machinery never 
before having acted in unison, this is to be ex- 
pected. The dog may get a thrill at the scent 
of game and his whole nervous being become 
aroused to a high state of excitement. The 
muscles may respond moderately and the dog 
may show signs of stiffening into a point. But 
all this is new and the dog is in such a high 
state of nervous excitement that the mechanism 
of the point is disturbed. Sometimes the dog 
has a touch of fright mingled with the other 
nervous expressions, and the hair along the 
back and tail may rise in consequence. Mean- 
while the birds are flushed and the animal na- 
ture of the dog will assert itself, and acting 
under this new influence, unhampered by fcne 
pointing instinct, the dog indulges in a chase. 
This is a very pleasant performance for the 
dog, and once it has been tried the matter be- 
comes fixed in the dog's mind as knowledge. 
On the next occasion, when birds are found, 



86 Modern Breaking 

there will be a battle between the pointing in- 
stinct and the intelligence, and most likely the 
intelligence will win. The pointing instinct 
may get a better start than it did on the pre- 
vious opportunity, and it may be carried fur- 
ther toward completion, but the intelligence will 
assert itself and the dog will have a little fun 
flushing and chasing the birds. 

With still further opportunity to point, the 
chances are the machinery of the point will 
move more harmoniously, and the instinctive 
point may be completed. But the intellectual 
flush and chase will assert themselves and the 
conflict between instinct and intelligence will 
go on. The dog will point a little and will like 
it, but will like better to flush and chase. 

To understand all this and plan to preserve 
the good and get rid of the evil is much better 
than to go at the dog roughshod for his faults. 
Rather let the pointing instinct develop and 
then try to eradicate the flushing and chasing- 
fault. This is not always an easy task, and the 
breaker must understand in the beginning that he 
will fail in many attempts to make the dog steady 
on point. The dog must be assisted in the first 
instance to come upon a covey of birds in the 
most advantageous way possible. If the breaker 
has located a covey in a likely place he can work 
his dog toward it, taking advantage of the 
wind and time of day to secure a point. The 



Modern Breaking 87 

dog should be given a run before being taken 
to the birds, and if it is a nice open field a long 
check cord may be attached to the dog's collar. 
All the breaker can do now is to try to get to the 
dog when he first makes game. Once he gets 
near him while pointing, little trouble will be 
experienced in making the dog stanch. In this. 
of course, there is some risk of making the 
dog a false pointer, but with that fault, serious 
as it is, it is not necessary to be very much 
concerned at present. What is particularly 
desired at this time is to get the dog in the 
way of pointing stanchly, and the main thing 
is to get to the pointing dog when he stops. 
If he appears to have the body scent of birds 
he should be held by the collar a moment and 
stroked gently while the order of "to-ho" is 
given, repeated in a low tone. The breaker 
should then attempt to push the dog forward. 
The dog will resist this, likely, and settle back 
against the force of the breaker. This is what 
is desired — a contrary idea to that of breaking 
in on the birds. Great liberties mav be taken 
with the dog at this time. He may be taken 
by the root of the tail and gently lifted off his 
hind feet and allowed to drop, and pushed 
about gently. 

With this, as with all other lessons, 100 much 
must not be done at once. If the first attempt 
is anything like a success, the dog will enjoy 



88 Modern Breaking 

the handling and will look for the breaker to 
come to him when he points again. At this 
time the same lesson may be repeated, and 
finally the dog may be lifted up bodily from 
his feet and thrown forward. When this is 
done he will drop into a point and shrink back 
from the birds. This may be carried so far 
that the dog may be thrown right into the 
midst of the covey of birds. Nothing tends to 
make a dog stanch quicker than this, and about 
the only thing to avoid is spoiling the dog's 
gracefulness in pointing. Properly done, this 
may be added to, for the dog will allow him- 
self to be pushed in all manner of attitudes. 

Of course, this is the time to teach the dog 
to drop to wing. All that is necessary is to 
get a good hold of the check cord and give 
the dog a tap with the whip when the birds 
rise, compelling him to remain down quite 
a while after they have gone. 



CHAPTER XL 



Yard Breaking. — Dropping to order, shot and wing; walk- 
ing to heel. 



THE mere teaching of a dog to drop to or- 
der is a very simple matter if the breaker 
is satisfied to compel obedience with the 
whip. But it is better to take more time on 
this lesson by following a more kindly treat- 
ment. To put a short check cord on the dog, 
strike him with the whip and order him to drop 
is simple, because the dog naturally goes down 
through the fear which the punishment inspires. 
But this cows the dog and makes future les- 
sons more difficult. It is better, therefore, to 
adopt a slower method and preserve the dog's 
spirits. It is an easy lesson at the worst. 

In the beginning all that is necessary is to 
put the dog down and hold him there, using 
the word "drop" occasionally so that the dog 
will associate the word with the act. To be 
sure, he will roll over, attempt to rise and 
possibly exhibit much unnecessary playfulness. 
Do not be too particular the first time the les- 
son is given. After it has been tried a few 
times it mav be well to give the dog a slight 



92 Modern Breaking 

cuff and speak sharply, using only the word 
"drop." Just say, "drop." The whip may be 
laid upon the dog lightly or it may be cracked, 
but a young dog should not be struck with any 
degree of severity. Just enough force should 
be used to check the playfulness and command 
attention. If when first left alone the dog 
should jump up and go away, he should be 
brought back with as little fuss as possible and 
compelled to remain in the same place from 
which he arose until ordered to hold up. But 
it must be borne in mind that before this lesson 
is attempted the breaker should have provided 
against the possibility of the dog's running 
away. A quiet room or enclosure should be 
selected for the purpose and an extra precau- 
tion might be taken by putting a long check 
cord on the dog. When the dog gets a fair 
idea of what is demanded of him the whip 
should be used in order to make him drop 
quickly at the first command. For this purpose 
it is not necessary to punish the dog severely. 
The order should be given and the whip laid 
on his back at the same time. If he does not 
drop quickly the order should be repeated in a 
sharper tone and the whip laid on a little 
heavier. So soon as the dog goes down the 
breaker should remain standing, and then reach 
down and stroke the dog gently, saying at the 
same time, in a low tone, "drop," repeating the 



Modern Breaking 93 

word several times. The dog may be disposed 
to move when the breaker lays hands on him, 
but this action should be anticipated and the 
dog checked sharply, both by order and a slap 
with the hand. When the dog gets far enough 
advanced in this lesson so that the breaker may 
move about while he remains quiet, the dog 
may be checked in any attempt at moving by 
cracking the whip and speaking sharply. This 
lesson should be kept up in the enclosure until 
the dog will remain down while the breaker 
moves about freely. Then the dog may be 
given the same lessons out of doors ; care, how- 
ever, must be taken not to attempt too much 
at first, for the dog should not be allowed to 
get into the habit of running away or refusing 
to down promptly. The dog, therefore, should 
be given his first out-of-door lessons while 
within easy reach of the breaker, and after he 
will drop promptly when near at hand he may 
be tried at a distance. Gradually the distance 
may be increased until the dog will drop 
promptly anywhere within hearing of the 
breaker's voice. All this, however, is not likely 
to follow in as easy sequence as it appears in 
print. Patience and perseverance are required. 
What the dog does not learn to-day may be 
taught to-morrow. The breaker can afford to 
wait. 

In these out-of-door exercises the same 



94 Modern Breaking 

method should be followed as that used indoors. 
When the dog refuses to drop he should be 
caught and taken back to the spot where he was 
ordered down, and there compelled to drop. A 
few cuts of the whip, accompanied by the order 
to drop, given in a sharp tone, are now neces- 
sary. After the dog has been down a few 
moments the breaker should walk away, going 
first on one side of the dog, then on the other. 
If the dog gets up he should be caught and 
compelled to remain where he had been 
"dropped," until the order to hold up is given. 
Perfection in this lesson is simply a matter of 
experience on the dog's part and persistency on 
the part of the breaker. The point aimed at is 
promptness. When the order is given, the dog 
should drop in his tracks as though he had been 
shot. When he has reached a comparative de- 
gree of perfection in this respect, he may be 
given some preliminary work in dropping to 
shot. 

DROPPING TO SHOT. 

Before this lesson is attempted the breaker 
should know whether or not the dog is gunshy. 
It won't do to find this out by firing a gun 
near him at first, as the puppy might become 
gunshy at once, and a gunshy dog is scarcely 
worth breaking. Therefore, before anything 
else is done he should become familiar with 
the report of a gun, and the best way to do this 



Modern Breaking 



95 



is to fire a pistol, loaded lightly, while the dog 
is ranging well away from the breaker. After 
the shot has been fired the pistol should be put 
away and no attention whatever paid to the 
' dog. If he shows some signs of fear the 
breaker should walk right along on his course 
as though nothing had happened. By no means 
should he attempt to encourage or pet the dog. 
Nothing could be worse. Dogs are sympathetic 
creatures and when slightly frightened nothing 
heightens that fright like a recognition of it 
by the breaker. If the breaker pays no attention 
to the thing that frightened the dog it is more 
than likely the dog will pay no further attention 
to it than to watch the breaker to see what 
effect it has on him. If the breaker notices it 
seriously the dog will be certain that it is some 
terrible thing, and when he hears it again will 
be more frightened than ever. Once the effect 
of the first shot is passed over without trouble 
the rest will be comparatively easy. A few 
shots like the first will accustom the dog to the 
noise, and in the course of a few days he will 
stand firm under all conditions. When the dog 
is bold enough to pay little or no attention to 
the noise of a pistol, a gun may be substituted, 
with blank cartridges lightly loaded. 

After all danger of the dog's becoming gun- 
shy has passed he may be taught to drop to 
shot. There is nothing to do in teaching a dog 



96 Modern Breaking 

to drop to shot but to compel him to drop at 
the report of the gun. When the dog has no 
fear of the noise, a gun may be discharged over 
him and the command to drop given at the 
same time. Of course it is more convenient to 
use a pistol in the first lessons, having a whip 
in one hand with which the dog may be given 
a light cut simultaneously with the discharge of 
the pistol and the order to drop. The dog soon 
comes to associate the order with the report and 
suits his action accordingly. After learning 
that he is to drop when the gun is discharged, 
the dog may be punished with a few cuts of the 
whip when he refuses, care always being taken 
to make the dog drop in the place where he 
stood when the gun was discharged. By patient 
practice the dog can be brought to such a degree 
of perfection in this respect, that he will drop in 
his tracks while going at a gallop when he hears 
the report of the gun. 

DROPPING TO WING. 

Dropping to wing is the same thing as drop- 
ping to order or shot, the breaker simply com- 
pelling the dog to drop at the rise of a bird. 
Great care, however, is necessary in the first 
lessons lest the dog be made a blinker, a fault 
of a very serious character. High-strung, young 
dogs are disposed to be frightened at the rise of 
a bird or covey, and no attempt should be 
made to teach dropping to wing until the dog 



Modern Breaking 



97 



is bold and stanch on his points. Then by the 
aid of a check cord he can soon be taught to 
drop when the birds rise. 

WALKING TO EIEEL. 

The judgment of the breaker will be called 
into action in deciding just when the dog should 
be taught to come to heel and remain there. 
The idea it is attempted to convey is that too 




much must not be attempted at once. The field 
work that goes on all the while the dog is being 
yard broken, as before stated, will keep up the 
dog's spirits and fit him for his other lessons. 

Walking to heel may be taught while the 
other lessons are being learned, and if properly 



98 Modern Breaking 

managed the dog will have learned the lesson 
before the breaker is aware of it. 

In the first place a stout check cord should be 
put on the dog, and while out for a short walk 
he may be pulled back to heel occasionally. 
Two or three short lessons will give him an 
idea of what is wanted. Then the breaker 
should take a stiff switch or whip in one hand 
while he holds the lead in the other. After the 
dog has been pulled back to heel he may be 
tapped lightly on the head whenever he is pulled 
back, or tapped with the switch. After having 
been fairly well perfected in these lessons, a 
longer check cord may be used and the dog 
allowed to go the length of the line. Then he 
should be ordered to heel, sharply and at the 
same time be given a sharp cut with the whip. 
This will tend to make the dog hurry to heel 
whenever he hears the order. When he becomes 
well up in this work the cord may be taken of! 
and the dog taught to come to heel without the 
aid of the cord. 



CHAPTER XII. 



Backing. — A form of the pointing instinct ; bad manners 
rushing in ; independence of character. 



GOOD breakers are often greatly perplexed 
over the matter of backing. Nothing is 
simpler than teaching a dog to back. In 
fact, there is little more to it than permitting 
the dog to learn it himself. To do that requires 
a good knowledge of self, for the temptation to 
aid the dog is always present, and men find it 
very difficult to resist this temptation even after 
they know what they should do and what they 
should not do. 

Backing is but another form of the expres- 
sion of the pointing instinct. Dogs love to back- 
just as they love to point, and it is about as 
natural for them to do one as it is to do the 
other. A young dog will point' a leaf stirred 
by the breeze, and another young dog will 
drop into a back at the sight of such a point. 
So in the field the natural tendency of the dog 
is to back, but usually he is hindered by the 
interference of the breaker trying to steady him. 
The dog contracts a habit of running up to the 
pointing dog and continues it merely as a habit. 



ioo Modern Breaking 

The simplest way to teach backing is to have 
the dog which is to be taught range well 
back of another dog, and so soon as the other 
dog is on point allow the young dog to gallop 
toward him without saying a word. To speak 
is to disconcert the dog, and really encourage 
him not to back, but to go on. When he stops 
get to him by approaching from the front. Walk 
toward him slowly with uplifted hand and speak 
slowly and kindly to him. Once the breaker 
gets his hands on him and pushes him about a 
little, the dog is practically taught this accom- 
plishment. If, however, he has had plenty of 
opportunities to back and still refuses, he must 
be made to "to-ho," behind the pointing dog. If 
he refuses to stop and goes on to join in the 
point, he should be dragged back and made to 
to-ho. After a few lessons of this kind he 
may be started on slowly toward the pointing 
dog until he will draw and stiffen to a point. 
Sometimes a dog gets the habit of rushing in 
so thoroughly confirmed, that it will be neces- 
sary to make him drop behind the pointing dog. 
This of course should be well back and should 
be continued until the dog shows some interest 
in the point. Then the breaker should go to 
him, lift him gently to his feet and "draw" him 
on until he stiffens. Finally he will come to 
like to back and will point well behind. But 
some care is necessary to get a dog out of the 



Modern Breaking 



IOI 



habit, once it is formed, of dropping on a 
back, as he should stand up as stiff as he would 
stand on a point. Another thing to be avoided 
with a young dog is the habit of watching the 
other dog for the sake of an opportunity to 
back. The young dog should hunt inde- 
pendently, but if worked with an older and wiser 
dog will sometimes lost heart and trust too 
much to his brace mate. When this happens a 
change of dogs is all that is necessary. Prefer- 
ably a dog not as good should be chosen. 




CHAPTER XIII. 



Ranging. — Quartering ; field trial methods ; coveys and single 
birds ; grouse and woodcock dogs ; turning out 



ON the English field, either for ordinary 
shooting or field trial work, a great deal 
is expected of a well-broken dog in the 
way of quartering, but in this country little 
attention is paid to this accomplishment. In 
England the fields are generally small and regu- 
lar and the dog — that is, the ideal dog — is 
required to hunt one field out thoroughly and 
systematically before entering another. ''Break- 
ing fence" is counted a rather serious fault, and 
dogs are taught to wait for the order to leave 
one field for another. In this country the land 
is more broken, the fields large and irregular 
and dogs are developed so that they will rely 
more on their own judgment in ranging. Here 
a well-broken dog, with good bird sense, will 
waste no time quartering out barren spots for 
the sake of precision, but will search out a 
likely place and then move on to what in his 
judgment is the next nearest spot likely to hold 
birds. He takes no direction from his handler, 
for he needs none. At times, again, the dog 



Modern Breaking 103 

may be directed, but having already a mind to 
go to the place to which directed, he takes the 
order kindly. Generally speaking, however, the 
well-broken dog hunts out all the likely places 
on either side of the handler, keeping always on 
the course the handler has selected. 

Field trials have changed the natural and most 
killing range by the excessive demand for speed. 
Handlers in recent years have broken their dogs 
to get as far away as possible and to keep out 
at their work. A dog working in the distance 
appears faster than he really is. If he is a 
wide ranger, galloping away freely when cast 
off, it matters little if he does some loafing 
when two or three hundred yards away. He 
will be sure to get credit for more speed than a 
faster dog which has a narrower but more 
killing range. 

While dogs at field trials do not quarter and 
would get no additional credit for their work 
if they did, it is nevertheless a good plan to 
teach them to quarter. It will give them .a 
more systematic range. They will soon forget 
or refuse to cut up a field in precise lines after 
they have been given their head, but they will 
retain enough of their education in this respect 
to make them keep well on the course, hunting 
on either side of the handler. Then, too, when 
it comes to single bird work, the dog which has 
been taught to quarter works out a small piece 



104 Modern Breaking 

of ground better and handles much easier than 
the dog which goes twisting about in circles. 
Dogs which are taught to quarter naturally 
acquire a restricted range, for they must be 
taught in a comparatively small field and must 
be kept well within the hearing of voice and 
whistle. They may work just as fast., or may, 
as a matter of fact, be worked faster in a small 
field than in a larger one, but their range of a 
necessity will be shortened. Once they have 
learned to quarter they may be thrown upon 
their own resources of judgment and develop a 
wide range, preserving enough of the idea of 
quartering to prompt them to "come around'' 
and cross before their handler to the other side 
of the course. 

For ruffed grouse or woodcock shooting 
quartering is a very desirable accomplishment, 
as the dog must have a contracted range and 
hunt regularly to the gun. In narrow swamps 
the quartering dog will beat out all the ground 
at a moderate pace, while the handler may walk 
in the open on either side of the swamp. In the 
woods, of course, the dog will beat out all the 
ground on either side of the handler, crossing 
and recrossing in front of the gun. 

It may be said, therefore, that it is advisable 
to teach all dogs to quarter. The virtue may 
be preserved in the ruffed grouse and woodcock 
dog, and practically discarded in the case of the 



Modern Breaking 105 

quail dog so soon as he gets a good idea of 
ranging always from one side to the other of 
the course. 

Quartering is one of the most difficult of all 
lessons to teach, and to reach anything like a 
fair degree of perfection great skill, patience 
and perseverance are necessary. The dog will 
be sure to go wrong, and after he gets a good 
idea of what the breaker means by directing 
him with his hand, the dog will persist in going 
his own way. He will be sure to turn in quite 
as often as he will turn out, thus traveling over 
ground already beat out. This latter fault is 
natural, as when the dog is ranging and the 
breaker whistles for him to turn, the natural 
thing to do is to turn toward the breaker, and 
this brings him on the inside of his proper 
course. Anyone who attempts to teach a dog 
to beat out a field in comparatively straight 
lines, going from side to side at right angles 
with the breaker's course, will have much 
trouble getting the dog to turn out on the beat 
instead of in toward the handler. 

In the beginning, select a small field for this 
work and be sure to go up wind. The dog will 
travel well across the wind and will be more 
likely to turn out when whistled around, as 
naturally he will like to keep his head in the 
wind. Start the dog off to the right with a 
wave of the hand in the direction you wish him 



106 Modern Breaking 

to go ; then walk straight up the middle of the 
field. When you whistle for him to turn, beat 
off to the left yourself, and as the dog gets 
near your true course, turn and move sharply 
to the right and go with him on his proper 
course until he has passed you. Now turn 
sharply about and go to the right and a little 
forward. When the dog turns lead him on his 
course by going straight to the right of your 
true course. The dog will zig-zag about and 
often show a disposition to go straight ahead, 
but must be whistled in and led on the proper 
beat. The breaker will find it necessary to 
travel a great deal diagonally from a straight 
line through the center of the field, in order to 
get the dog in the way of going from side to 
side of the field, but as the dog becomes accus- 
tomed to the work the handler may keep closer 
to the true course, although it will be necessary 
to turn a little when the dog is coming toward 
him in order to keep on the beat. When the 
dog is coming at right angles toward the breaker 
he will naturally veer off his beat and go in the 
direction the breaker is traveling. Whenever he 
does this, which will happen very often, the 
breaker must whistle him back and move 
straight away in the direction he wishes the 
dog to travel. This is about all there is to 
teaching a dog the early lessons in quartering, 
but it is a tedious job and one calculated to 




A — Correct ranging, turning up into the wind. B 
ranging. C — Course pursued by handler in 
teaching a dog to beat his ground. 



Toor 



Modern Breaking 



109 



arouse friction between breaker and dog. How- 
ever, perseverance and good judgment on the 
part of the breaker will accomplish the object 
sought to be attained. 

It should be said in this connection that these 
early lessons in quartering never should be long. 
The dog must be fresh and full of go in order 
to enter into it in a spirit of enjoyment. So 
soon as the dog tires he must be taken away, as 
an attempt to force the lesson will only make the 
dog sulky. 

A nice level grassneld or a stubble, where 
the going is easy, is the best places for this 
purpose, and the fields should be free from 
larks or game birds. These, if present, will 
attract the dog's attention and constantly keep 
him off the true course. The work should be 
done in the early morning or late afternoon, 
when the dog will be likely to enjoy the fast 
gallop through the field. A cloudy day, of 
course, will do, and if there is any moisture on 
the grass to keep the dog fresh, so much the 
belter. 

The amateur will do well to reach a moderate 
degree of perfection in teaching his dog to 
quarter, but the experienced breaker can force 
the dog to gallop in straight lines across his 
own course with the whip. It is a dangerous 
thing for a novice to undertake, but a man 
acquainted with the business can crack his whip 



no Modern Breaking 

at the dog as he gallops toward him, and have 
him come on true at an increased pace, going by 
him to the crack of the whip good-naturedly. 
When the dog turns too soon, he may be turned 
back with the crack of the whip and driven on 
his true course to the other end of the field, 
where he should turn to the whistle. 

To reach this degree of excellence the dog 
must be perfected in stopping to order, so that 
when he comes in he may be stopped and sent 
back. At first he will be disposed to sulk and 
come in when ordered out, but must be stopped 
again and again and directed in the opposite 
direction, the breaker walking toward him. By 
persisting in driving the dog from him, by 
stopping him instantly he comes in, the dog will 
finally come to understand what is required of 
him, and will learn, too, that there is peace only 
in doing as he should do. Finally, a dog will 
rather enjoy the work and when coming in at 
a gallop may be stopped promptly with the up- 
lifted hand and waved back in the direction 
from which he came. All this is difficult and 
tedious work, but it is a splendid accomplish- 
ment when perfected. 

Ranging really means going wide or close, as 
the necessity of the case demands. To find a 
covey the dog should be sent out at top speed 
and kept out, ranging as wide as practicable on 
either side of the handler, Dogs whose range 



Modern Breaking in 

has been contracted as a result of having been 
taught to quarter can be got out by giving them 
their head and working them only a little 
while at a time. When well broken they soon 
learn to range out well for coveys and then 
come down to close work on the single birds. 
But where it is desired to widen a dog's range 
little work should be done on single birds. 
Instead, the dog should be kept at covey work. 
As soon as one covey has been found the dog 
should be allowed to rest a moment and then 
started out to look for another covey. On the 
other hand, when from an excess of covey 
work the dog becomes wild and shows a disposi- 
tion to bolt instead of paying attention to the 
handler's course, the range may be restricted 
by giving him a great deal of work on single 
birds. All this is a matter of judgment with 
the handler and the quality of the dog's range 
for coveys and single birds depends upon the 
breaker's skill. It should be remembered that 
speed and range are different things. A dog 
may be slow and yet be a wide ranger, while 
on the other hand a dog may be very fast and 
yet have a narrow range. All this depends upon 
breaker. Either a fast or slow dog may be 
given a wide range. 



CHAPTER XIV. 



Retrieving. — Natural and force system ; dangers of the spike 
collar : a new method. 



THERE has been in years past some dis- 
cussion as to the desirability of having a 
setter or pointer trained to retrieve, and a 
small body of breakers and sportsmen still exist 
who contend that it is not a bird dog's work 
and claim that it makes a dog unsteady and 
affects the delicacy of his scent. 

These are largely old-fashioned, English 
ideas. The greater body of sportsmen consider 
retrieving not only a very pretty accomplish- 
ment, but in some sections of the country a 
necessity, and that it is an advantage every- 
where will be difficult to deny. A well-broken 
dog will retrieve a dead or wounded bird 
promptly and tenderly, and can be kept just as 
steady as* one which is incapable of doing so. 

There are two systems of teaching a dog to 
retrieve, the force system and the natural sys- 
tem. The latter consists in teaching a dog, 
while in a spirit of playfulness, to fetch a ball 
or any soft object that is thrown for him. 
Some dogs take to this very readily and make 



Modern Breaking 113 

cheerful and prompt retrievers. The objection 
to this method, however, is that if at any time 
the dog concludes he is tired of the play there 
is no way of enforcing- obedience. 

No dog is likely to be a reliable retriever 
unless taught by the force system, and it may 
as well be stated frankly that this branch of 
breaking must be handled with the greatest 
care. Some dogs get a setback that requires 
a season's field work to overcome, others never 
get over it. The fault is not in the principles 
but in the manner of applying them. All of 
the articles heretofore published on force re- 
trieving recommend the use of the spike collar. 
This instrument in itself is a cruel affair and 
in the hands of a quick-tempered man often 
becomes an instrument of torture that will 
cow the boldest dog, and has ruined many a 
timid one. The constant jerking of the collar 
and the forcing of the spikes against the deli- 
cate glands and organs of the neck frequently 
result in serious injury, and account for many 
chronic coughs and thick-winded dogs. Some 
hard-headed dogs broken with the spike col- 
lar will work very well while they are wearing 
the collar, but at other times may refuse to do 
so. If the breaker has a collar in his pocket, 
obedience can quickly be enforced, but it is not 
convenient to carry a spike collar in the field, 
and it is in the field that the dog balks. 



ii4 Modern Breaking 

The system here offered will enable any per- 
son with a reasonable amount of patience and 
firmness to compel a dog to retrieve; it will 
bring a stubborn dog to terms and will not 
cow the most timid. It has been in use for 
years by some of the best professional breakers, 
but has never before been given to the public. 
Some dogs get the idea very quickly and with 
a little encouragement learn very rapidly ; oth- 
ers will test the breaker's patience and temper. 
In the system here outlined, instead of using 
a spike collar, the dog's attention to the sub- 
ject in hand is held and punishment applied 
by pinching the ear, the breaker using the 
thumb and finger-nail for that purpose. It is 
in every way an improvement upon the spike 
collar, as the severity of the punishment can be 
more delicately regulated, there is nothing for 
the dog to get frightened at, and the means 
of forcing obedience are always at hand. The 
breaker must understand that the dog's ear 
must never be pulled or jerked. It should 
simply be pinched hard enough to cause the dog 
to good-naturedly open his mouth and hold an 
object placed there. 

In teaching a dog to retrieve, it is always 
best to have a dog well along in his training, 
so as to avoid any danger of cowing him, but 
in this as in all things, the dog's disposition 
must be studied. A good plan to follow in 




OPENING HIS MOUTH 



Modern Breaking 117 

breaking some dogs to retrieve is a combina- 
tion of both the force and natural systems. If you 
have a bright, courageous puppy about the 
kennel, which is always nosing about and pick- 
ing up things, he can be taught to hold and 
carry small objects about the kennel, but no 
attempt should be made to force him to retrieve 
until well along in his field work. The first les- 
son is the most important one and the breaker 
must use extreme care in the very beginning 
not to frighten the dog and cause it to become 
cowed or sulk}-. 

There are six things to teach a dog sepa- 
rately: First, to hold an object after it is 
placed in the mouth ; second, to open the mouth 
so that the object may be placed there; third, 
to take it from the hand; fourth, to pick it 
up from the floor; fifth, to go a distance for it; 
sixth, to fetch it back. Each of these points 
must be forced separately. 

An object might be thrown upon the floor 
and no amount of punishment would induce the 
dog to pick it up. He simply would not know 
what was required of him. But, by teaching 
the dog separately those things that he should 
be compelled to do, he will come to understand 
the connection and know all about the detail 
that enters into, the one act of retrieving. 

The first lessons should be given in a large 
room where the breaker and his pupil will be 



n8 Modern Breaking 

undisturbed. It is presumed that the dog has 
already been broken to lead quietly and walk 
at heel at command. Slip the lead strap over 
the dog's head and take two or three turns 
around the room with him to quiet him down, 
then stop, stroke his head and neck and take the 
ear in the right hand, which can also hold the 
lead or the end of the latter may be dropped 
to the floor. 

In the left hand should be held a corncob 
or roll of cloth of similar size. Slightly pinch 
the ear with the thumb nail, the dog will good- 
naturally open his mouth in remonstrance and, 
as soon as he does so, thrust the corncob into 
his mouth. The ear is pinched simply to get 
him to open his mouth. As soon as he does so 
and the object is placed in his mouth, discon- 
tinue the punishment. The dog will imme- 
diately attempt to get the object out of his 
mouth and will probably succeed in doing so 
several times, but be patient with your pupil, 
do not get excited or use unnecessary force and 
gradually any fright, timidity or stubbornness 
on the part of the dog will be overcome. Some 
dogs may refuse to open the mouth when the 
ear is pinched. In a case of this kind pass 
the right hand up over the dog's head from 
behind until it is directly in front of the eyes, 
then with the thumb on one side of the face 
and the fingers on the other, force the skin 




REACHING FOR IT 



Modern Breaking 121 

of the cheeks against the teeth until he opens 
his mouth ; the cob can then be inserted. After 
the cob is placed in the mouth either by forc- 
ing it open or by pinching the ear, make the 
dog hold it there for a time by supporting the 
lower jaw with the hand. After he gets so 
he will hold the cob when supported by the 
hand, gradually remove the hand by passing it 
back slowly toward the throat, as if stroking 
him. If the dog shows any intention of throw- 
ing out the cob, immediately move the hand 
back and support the jaw, gradually stroking 
the lower jaw and the throat. In this way the 
dog easily can be taught to hold the cob in 
the mouth and the support of the hand re- 
moved without the dog realizing it. If, as 
soon as he realizes that the support of the hand 
is removed, he drops the cob, pinch the ear 
sharply, and as the dog opens his mouth again, 
replace the cob and again support the lower 
jaw and gradually remove the support of the 
hand, as before directed. Do not be in any 
hurry about these first lessons. Repeat them 
twice a dav for ten minutes at a time until he 
will hold the cob carefully. The dog must 
then be taught to carry the cob while being 
led about the room. This is another new les- 
son, and, like the first one, must be taught by 
degrees patiently and without fuss, noise or 
anger. Take plenty of time with these first les- 



122 Modern Breaking 

sons, do not get discouraged or attempt to ac- 
complish too much or have the dog too perfect 
in manner of performance. 

The chances are that immediately the dog 
starts to walk he will drop the cob from his 
mouth. It must be replaced and another at- 
tempt made. In this way he must be taught by 
degrees to walk first a short distance with the 
object in the mouth, then farther and farther 
until a complete circuit of the room can be 
made several times without any inclination on 
the part of the dog to drop the cob. After 
fully understanding these first two lessons — the 
holding and carrying of the cob cheerfully — 
the dog can be advanced to the next lesson. 
In the first lesson he was taught simply to open 
the mouth and hold the cob or object to be 
placed there. In the second lesson he was 
taught to carry it. In the next lesson he must 
be taught to grab the object from the hand. 
With the left hand, hold the cob close to the 
mouth, pinch the ear lightly with the right 
hand, and say, "Fetch." As soon as the mouth 
is opened place the object in it and stop the 
punishment. The impresson you wish to con- 
vey and what you want the dog to understand 
is, that when he hear: the word "fetch," and 
does not have the cob in his mouth, he will be 
punished by having his ear pinched, and that 
all punishment ceases when the cob is in the 




HOLD IT 



Modern Breaking 125 

mouth. He will soon learn that the thing to do 
when he hears the word "fetch," is to get the 
cob in his mouth and thereby avoid punishment. 
Whenever he refuses to take it upon hearing 
the order, "fetch," pinch the ear and push the 
object forward. After the dog will grab the 
object from the hand promptly when it is held 
an inch or two in front of the nose, hold it 
a little farther away, first six or eight inches, 
then a foot, then two or three feet, then still 
a little farther, and when the dog goes at it 
promptly, the object should be moved still far- 
ther away in order to induce him to keep his 
eye on it and follow it. If he gets a little 
slow about moving, the ear can be pinched gently 
to remind him of what is expected of him, but 
as long as the pupil is reasonably prompt, it 
should be omitted. 

Don't hurry him about these early lessons, 
but take plenty of time and don't become dis- 
couraged if he is clumsy about grabbing for the 
cob. At this time never throw the object or 
lay it on the floor and try to get him to pick 
it up. He won't do it and your efforts to make 
him do so will only confuse him. He knows 
only enough to be guided by the hand, and if 
you hold out your hand without having any- 
thing in it, he will likely grab your hand. 

If the object be held in any other way than 
that in which he is accustomed to seeing it 



126 Modern Breaking 

held, it is most likely that he will refuse to 
take it. If it should be held higher or lower 
than it has been held previously, the result will 
be the same. Therefore, great care should be 
taken to gradually raise the object above the 
level of his head, and in the same way lower 
it until it may be held to the ground. When- 
ever the object is held so low that the dog will 
refuse to take it, it should be moved back to 
the next lowest place to which he has been ac- 
customed, and then it should be held gradually 
a little lower. Finally, the object should be 
laid on the ground, but the breaker should not 
let go of it, keeping his hand under one end 
of it while the other end rests on the ground. 
The dog will act awkwardly in getting hold of 
it, and the first few attempts may fail en- 
tirely in trying to get it into his mouth, in 
which case it will assist him if the object is 
raised a little so that he may grasp it more 
easily. When he will do this, let the object 
be placed upon the ground with the hand 
alongside of it, for, if the hand is taken away, 
the dog will refuse to touch the object because 
at this period he is guided largely by the hand. 
When the dog will pick the object up from 
the floor, the hand gradually should be drawn 
away, each time a little farther, until finally 
the dog will pick up the object without paying 
any attention to the hand. These various steps 



Modern Breaking 129 

are not to be attempted in one or two lessons, 
but should be taught a little every day. In 
giving a lesson, do not begin where you left 
off the previous lesson, but rehearse him through 
all he has been taught previously before at- 
tempting to go a stage farther. 

After the dog will pick the cob or other ob- 
ject from the floor, it should be held above his 
head to one side, then the other, and all about 
him. It should be held for him in one place, 
and as he starts for it be moved quickly to 
some other place, and his ear pinched if he 
refuses to follow it. It should be dropped then 
on the floor, but not at a distance from him 
until he will pick it up near by. When he does 
this, the object should be taken in hand, and 
as he follows to get it should be dropped close 
to him and then a little farther off. At times 
he may go five or six feet and get it nicely, 
and then again he will try to pick it up, and 
from some cause miss it. This will discourage 
him and cause him to return, in which case the 
breaker should go with his and assist him in 
recovering it. He will be very easily dis- 
couraged at this period, but if the breaker per- 
severes in a quiet manner and does not hurry 
or attempt to do too much in one lesson, the 
dog soon will get accustomed to the work and 
lose much of the fear. 

In throwing the object for him to go and 



130 Modern Breaking 

fetch, it will be found advisable, and in fact 
necessary, to accompany him for a number of 
times before expecting him to go alone. This 
should not be broken off suddenly. The breaker 
should start with the dog as if he were going 
to the object, and having got the dog well 
started on the way, should stop and let the 
dog go on alone. As the dog becomes more 
and more advanced, it will not be necessary 
to pinch his ear. The lead should be kept 
on him so as to have him under restraint, but 
further than that he should be got to work 
without punishment. Later the lead can be 
taken off and the dog induced to work without it. 

Practice is all that is necessary now to make 
the dog perfect in this work. These lessons, 
that up to this time have been given in a room 
without spectators and with no other dogs to 
disturb the breaker or distract the attention 
of the pupil, must be repeated now in the yard. 
There, the surroundings and conditions being 
new, he may become confused and bungle or 
be clumsy in his work. This can be overcome 
by a little patient rehearsing. 

During all these lessons, the cob or other 
object used has been handled with the left hand. 
The dog will become so accustomed to this, 
that when a change is made and the object is 
held in the right hand, he possibly may refuse 
to take it or go for it when thrown with that 



Modern Breaking 133 

hand. The breaker must lake plenty of time 
to accustom the dog to this change. 

In all these early lessons the dog has been 
taught to grasp a corncob or a roll of soft 
cloth of similar size. The corncob is, of course, 
the more convenient, as it is easily replaced 
when dirty, light and nice to hold, and does 
not slip in the mouth. When these objects are 
handled well, you must begin accustoming the 
dog to others, such as the dog whip, an old 
hat, stick, cane, a ball, old shoe or slipper, etc. 
A good-sized wooden ball, into which wire nails 
have been driven and the tips filed off and 
slightly sharpened, is a good thing to work 
him with. It will require considerable care 
on his part to pick it up without getting 
pricked. This will make him soft mouthed. 
Another expedient, that can be used with a 
hard-mouthed dog, is to put a small pincushion 
with the pin points turned outward inside of a 
woolen sock. An object of this kind requires 
careful handling and will break most any dog of 
closing down too hard on objects he is retriev- 
ing. Socks of different colors should be used 
from time to time, so that the dog will not 
become apprehensive at the sight of objects of 
one color. Pieces of meat are nice things for 
him to fetch, and when he does this nicely and 
will fetch raw meat with a tender mouth there 



134 Modern Breaking 

will be no danger of his injuring- birds in die 
field, even if they are badly shot. 

The dog's education, however, should not 
cease when he will retrieve well about the room 
or yard. When taken into the field, probably 
he will refuse to lift his first bird unless he 
has been drilled previously at home on a dead 
bird, and even if this has been carefully done, 
the excitement of field work and the changed 
conditions for a time will drive all his early 
education out of his mind. 

In working with a dead bird, procure a 
freshly killed quail or a stuffed one, bring the 
wings down into position and fasten them with 
a few wraps of string or rubber bands. If the 
dog fails to pick it up when thrown, begin at 
the beginning and go through all the various 
stages of holding, carrying, reaching for and 
fetching- it. Then throw it away farther and 
farther, and finally hide it and go with him to 
search for it. In this way he can be taken 
slowly from his yard work to that in the field. 
By this method any man of ordinary sense and 
a reasonable degree of patience can teach a 
dog to retrieve without the aid of a spike col- 
lar, whip or any other contrivance. 



CHAPTER XV. 



Gunshyness. — Overcoming fear of the gun. 



THE gunshy dog is a problem most break- 
ers display great energy in avoiding, and 
the subject is generally dismissed with the 
remark that a gunshy dog is not worth break- 
ing. There will be no argument raised over 
the statement that it is worth a great deal to 
break a gunshy dog, but whether the dog is 
worth breaking is a question that depends 
altogether upon the dog. Some of the best 
dogs which have ever stepped into the hunting 
field have been gunshy, and afterward developed 
the greatest courage, hardihood, stamina and 
intelligence in the pursuit of game. 

Gunshyness is due to excessive timidity at 
unaccustomed sounds, and does not denote any 
lack of courage in the presence of those scenes 
and conditions that appeal directly to the dog's 
natural instincts. The gentle, affectionate little 
setter bitch which will slink away as if hurt 
to the death at a harsh word often has all the 
courage of a lion. She may travel two blocks 
out of her* way to avoid a snarling city cur, 
when on her way to the hunting field, but once 



136 Modern Breaking 

there will plunge headforemost into a patch of 
briers or plow uncomplainingly through the 
sedge grass and weeds that have a coating of 
December ice that cuts like needles. The bull- 
dog when asked to display the same fortitude 
will come whimpering back to its master. 

If you own a gunshy dog by all means go 
to work to break him. There are nummerous 
methods to be pursued and all are aimed at 
what seems a comparatively simple problem — ■ 
the overcoming in the animal of the fear of 
the discharge of the gun. In the abstract, this 
should be easy. The dog is an intelligent ani- 
mal, observing and quick to recognize friend 
or foe, readily adaptable to circumstances, and 
if properly handled will learn that the report 
of a gun is not fraught with pain or danger. 

One method and a very simple one is to 
lead your dog to a trap shooting ground 
day after day, until he becomes accustomed to 
and loses all fear of the continuously popping 
shells. This practice will and has broken many 
a gunshy dog. The great mistake breakers 
make in handling a dog affected this way is 
that when the dog hears the guns and displays 
the utmost fear, they immediately attempt to 
reassure him by petting and talking to him. 
This simply encourages the dog in the belief 
that there is some danger connected with the 
noise, and the more you pet him the more 



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Modern Breaking 139 

thoroughly he is convinced that something is 
wrong. The proper procedure is for the 
breaker to display the utmost composure and to 
totally ignore the noise, the dog, and all his ef- 
forts to escape. This composure reassures the 
dog; he observes that his master is not af- 
fected by the noise and gradually comes to 
study the noise and its effects on his own ac- 
count, and eventually arrives at the conclusion 
that there is nothing to fear. 

This, however, is a mental operation that 
must be entrusted entirely to the dog without 
any interference on the part of the breaker, who 
should understand that all this cannot be ac- 
complished in one lesson or afternoon, but may 
take weeks. If trap shoots are not available, 
the owner can accustom the dog to the dis- 
charge of a gun by firing a pistol several times 
before or while the dog is being fed, two or 
three times a day. Hunger will go a long way 
to overcome the dog's fear of the gun. For 
instance, if a dog is kept chained to a kennel 
and is not fed for twenty-four hours, and the 
feeding dish is placed in front of his kennel, 
he will immediately go to eating. If an attend- 
ant fires a small pistol some distance away, with 
the greatest fear the dog will rush back to the 
farthest corner of his kennel. Then take the 
dish away and leave him to his own reflec- 
tions. It may take him some time to recover 



140 Modern Breaking 

his composure and his fear of the gun will still 
remain, but hunger is a great stimulus to cour- 
age and will prompt both men and dogs to 
brave dangers, real and imaginary. In the 
course of five or six hours return again to his 
kennel and offer him the tempting dish. When 
he comes out to eat do not allow him to satisfy 
his appetite, but let him have three or four 
mouthfuls before the pistol is discharged again. 
He will, of course return to his kennel, but 
will perhaps make one last grab for a mouthful 
of food before doing so. When he does this, it 
is only a question of time as to when his tim- 
idity will be overcome. By keeping him con- 
tinually hungry and gradually decreasing the 
distance from the dog at which the pistol is 
fired, eventually the pistol can be discharged 
while he is eating. Then for the small pistol 
can be substituted one of larger caliber and 
finally the shotgun with light loads. 

Another method that has much in its favor 
is to lead the dog afield day after day. A 
small boy can be employed for this purpose, 
whose duties will consist in simply following 
a couple of shooters. No attention must be 
paid to the gunshy patient other than leading 
him about where he can see the dogs working, 
and if possible become encouraged by scenting 
game. At first the boy should follow a hun- 
dred or a hundred and fifty yards in the rear 



Modern Breaking 141 

of the hunters. After the dog will lead quietly 
at that distance, he may be brought closer and 
closer, until finally he will lead a few yards 
behind the shooters while they arc busily en- 
gaged in shooting. In this way his timidity 
gradually passes away and the dog will follow 
the shooters without being confined by a lead. 
From that, he will in time range out a little 
and hunt on his own account, and should be 
encouraged to flush and chase to his heart's con- 
tent, and develop a love for the sport that will 
completely stifle any fear of the gun. All 
this cannot be accomplished in one lesson or 
even in an entire season, but if persisted in 
patiently the fear of the gun eventually will 
be overcome. It is not necessary that the 
breaker confine himself to one of these meth- 
ods. He can combine all three, if necessary. 

The one principle for the breaker to bear 
in mind in breaking a dog of gunshvness is 
to refrain from petting or attempting to encour- 
age the dog or to soothe his feelings. These the 
dog must learn to control by his own observa- 
tions and reasoning. Every time the breaker 
attempts to encourage the dog, he really dis- 
courages him, for he gives the dog the im- 
pression that there actually is something of 
which to be afraid. Whereas, if the breaker 
acts as if there is nothing of which to be 
afraid and pays no attention to the actions of 



142 



Modern Breaking 



the dog, it is only a question of time until the 
dog observes the composure of the breaker and 
realizes there is nothing to fear.- 

If the practice of accustoming puppies to 
loud noises, such as the banging of two pans 
or the discharge of a small pistol, be followed 
up from the time they are weaned, gunshyness 
will be avoided. 




CHAPTER XVI. 



Bad Breaking — Faults and Vices. — The trailing dog; 
barking at horses ; rabbit chasing ; egg sucking ; sheep 
chasing; howling; muddy paws. 



MOST of the faults and vices that a dog 
will display in the course of his career 
can be avoided by care in breaking and a 
knowledge of how to control certain undesirable 
propensities. 

THE TRAILING DOG. 

A practice that most amateurs and some 
professionals are apt to fall into, and one that 
is prolific of undesirable results, is the work- 
ing of a young dog with an older and expe- 
rienced companion. The most natural of pre- 
sumptions is that the young dog will learn to 
range and hunt from his running-mate. To 
be sure a young dog will range away from his 
handler better and farther if paced by another 
dog, but in doing so he is neither hunting or 
developing the courage, independence of char- 
acter and all-absorbing interest in the quest 
of game that are characteristics of a high-class 
dog. He is not enlarging his fund of informa- 
tion about the habits of birds, the likely spots 



144 Modern Breaking 

in which to find them, or his knowledge of 
wind, scent, and the elusive wiles of running 
birds and other qualities that are grouped 
under that comprehensive and expressive term, 
"bird sense." He is simply ranging because 
the dog he is hunting with is ranging, and 
he relies upon the older dog to locate the game. 
He points simply because he has the instinct 
to point, but largely loses the ambition and 
desire to search and exercise these instincts, 
and consequently does not develop knowledge 
of how or where to look for game. 

The breaker must work the young dog 
alone. He will be disappointed in many cases 
at the dog's trotting along a few yards in front 
of him, or the lack of interest he displays in 
hunting for birds, but day by day he will 
see the dog go out farther and farther, and 
after he has got the scent of birds, and enjoyed 
the flush and chase, he will soon reach out in 
his casts for the birds with more independence 
and the resulting excitement. Even after the 
young dog has developed a pointing instinct 
and is stanch on point, or remains steady after 
the birds are flushed, he should be worked 
alone. There are many things for him yet to 
learn. Now and then you will see him puzzled 
by some adroit old cock or cunning hen, and on 
certain days, with different weather conditions 
the scent will come to his nostrils peculiarly, so 



Modern Breaking 147 

that he will not know exactly what to make of 
it. If worked alone, he will study the matter 
over himself and will have confidence in his 
conclusions and his own ability, such as pos- 
sesses the boy who unaided solves his first geo- 
metrical proposition, and fearlessly approaches 
the next. These are the traits and cultivated 
instincts that go to make a really high-class 
dog, and are the results of time, patience and 
repeated opportunity. Even after the young 
dog hunts fearlessly and displays plenty of re- 
liance and confidence in his own ability, care 
must be exercised in putting him down to hunt 
in company with other dogs. This is partic- 
ularly true if he is to be entered for field trial 
competition. Dogs are companionable crea- 
tures, and possess many humanlike traits, 
among them cunning, some laziness and per- 
fect willingness in many cases to profit by the 
efforts of others. Nothing penalizes a dog 
so quickly in the eyes of an intelligent field 
trial judge as to see him trailing his running 
mate or loafing or pottering around carelessly, 
while his companion is industriously engaged 
with the scent of birds and their proper location. 

RABBIT CHASING. 

This vice is easily checked in a young dog 
by scolding, and if necessary the use of the 
whip. When the habit becomes confirmed in 
an older dog sterner measures are necessary. 



148 Modern Breaking 

The following methods are practiced by expe- 
rienced breakers : Shoot a rabbit in front of 
a chasing dog, tie the rabbit about the dog's 
neck and force him to carry it on a day's hunt. 
This is calculated to disgust an energetic, hard- 
hunting dog with the entire rabbit family. If 
it does not break him in one day, make him 
carry it a second, and a third day or even 
longer, about the kennel. 

Whipping a dog with a rabbit you have shot 
in front of him is sometimes effectual in im- 
pressing upon him the undesirability of hunting 
them. If this does not succeed in breaking him 
of the habit, put on the spike collar, attach the 
long check cord, that may be allowed to drag 
or be attached after he establishes a point. When 
the rabbit is jumped he should be allowed to 
chase the full length of the cord and brought to 
a sudden stop. A few experiences of this kind 
will bring the most confirmed rabbit chaser 
to a realization of the fact that he must give 
up the reprehensible practice, 

EGG SUCKING. 

Some dogs get into this habit and pursue it 
most industriously. Scolding and whipping, if 
caught in the act, will cure some dogs. Hand- 
ing the dog a hot egg is also usually successful. 
If it is not, the contents of an Qgg may be 
partially drawn through a small hole drilled at 
one end with the point of a knife, and a quan- 



Modern Breaking 149 

tity of red pepper inserted. Tf an egg or sev- 
eral eggs thus prepared are placed so that the 
dog in his quests can get hold of them, it will 
effectually cure him of his propensities in this 
direction. 

SHEEP CHASING. 

This habit is prevented more easily than it 
is cured. A young dog should be taken into 
the presence of sheep and a sharp lookout kept 
on its actions, and the slightest tendency to 
chase should be sternly checked. If necessary, 
get a long check cord and a whip, and when 
the dog starts to chase them give him the full 
length of the rope and bring him up sharply. 
Go to him, scold him well and if he continues 
this practice give him a good thrashing. Xo 
half-way measures will do, as a dog which once 
gets a taste of mutton is never safe by him- 
self, and must be kept under the constant eye 
of his owner or killed. 

If a young dog which has shown an incli- 
nation to chase sheep is confined in a large 
room, such as a barn, with some seasoned and 
aggressive old buck which is ready to fight 
and assert himself on slight provocation, the 
ram will give the young dog a lesson that will 
cause him in after years to make long detours 
to avoid a flock of sheep. 

Another fault more easily prevented than 
cured is that of barking at the heels of horses. 



150 Modern Breaking 

Some dogs take the greatest delight in doing 
this. Check the first tendency of this kind 
that appears by scolding a puppy and ordering 
to heel a dog which has had some training. 

HOWLING DOGS. 

Dogs often howl at night because of hunger 
or of being tormented by fleas as well as from 
a spirit of loneliness. Therefore see that the 
dog is comfortably housed and well fed at 
night. If tormented by insects use measures 
to effect their removal. If possible give him 
a companion. If not, his howling should be 
checked by the command, "quiet," and a few 
blows on the kennel roof with a pole or whip. 
This should be repeated every time he howls, 
even if it is necessary to go to his kennel a 
dozen times during the night, and if he still 
persists, the whip should be lightly applied. 
After he learns that his howling will bring 
nothing more than a rating, with perhaps a 
thrashing, he will discontinue barking. 

MUDDY PAWS. 

Most dogs have the habit of jumping up 
and placing their paws on their owners or 
strangers. This is bad manners at all times, 
and particularly annoying if the dog's paws 
are muddy. It is a fault easily cured. When 
the dog jumps upon you, grasp his forepaws 
in your hands and speak kindly to him as if 



Modern Breaking 



151 



yon were well pleased with his attentions, and 
with the toe of your foot step on first one and 
then the other of his hind feet. This need not 
be done harshly, but just enough to bother him, 
and after two or three repetitions of the lesson, 
the dog cannot be induced to place his paws 
against you. Neither a harsh word nor a par- 
ticle of punishment is necessary in this lesson ; 
just step on his toes enough to annoy him. 




CHAPTER XVII. 



Conditioning. — Racehorse methods; feeding; exercise; the 
thermometer ; massage ; plethora ; sore feet ; lameness ; 
clipping. 



GOOD work in the hunting field and the 
chances of success in a field trial often 
are lessened by lack of attention to the 
details of proper physical form that will enable 
an ambitious field performer to sustain the 
prolonged and excessive muscular strain neces- 
sitated by a closely contested race. The suc- 
cess of the American horses on the English 
turf is attributed largely to superior methods 
of training and conditioning. The quality and 
quantity of grain and other foods are care- 
fully watched by the American horseman and 
the water is frequently transported long dis- 
tances to obviate any derangement of the bowels 
that might arise from a change. 

The gentle massaging of the limbs to prevent 
any checking of the capillary circulation and 
supporting the exhausted tissues by careful 
bandaging is certainly an art, and the study of 
the characteristics of the animal so as to pre- 
serve that careful balance between overtraining 
and drawing too fine, with a stiffening of the 
muscles and lack of elasticity, and that point 



Modern Breaking 153 

where the muscles are full of fire and tone, 
strong, yet pliable, with just sufficient fat to 
act as a reserve force for Nature, are details 
apparently small in themselves, but large 
enough in the aggregate to bring success. 

These matters can be studied by trainers of 
field trial dogs with an assurance of profit to 
themselves, and in only a slightly less degree 
are they subjects with which every dog-owning 
sportsman should concern himself. 

FEEDING. 

The dog is a carnivorous animal, but do- 
mestication and association with man have al- 
tered or affected his organs of digestion, and 
he thrives best on a mixed diet or one con- 
taining meat, grain and vegetables. The pro- 
portions of these depend altogether upon the 
individual's constitution, peculiar existing state 
of health and the work he is called upon to do. 
These matters can be determined only by ex- 
periment and observation. Food and water are 
to the muscular system what fuel and steam 
are to the locomotive. Muscular exertion causes 
a destruction of muscular elements ; the destruc- 
tion of muscular elements generates heat in 
varying degrees and produces a large amount 
of effete poisonous matter that the kidneys and 
bowels are called upon to remove. 

If the dog is in good condition, the muscles 
firm, elastic and properly nurtured by a fi f 



154 Modern Breaking 

diet, muscular efforts will, if severe, produce 
only the minimum amount of heat and effete 
matter. If the animal is in poor condition, 
the muscles soft and flabby, and surrounded by 
fat, slight exercise will consume a large amount 
of heat and waste products. It is these poison- 
ous waste products that the athlete, horse and 
dog have to contend with, and, no matter how 
carefully trained, it is these waste products 
that eventually limit their performance. 

A dog's wind may be all right, and he may 
be ready to go and want to go, but if the pro- 
duction of these waste products is too rapid for 
their removal by the kidneys and other organs, 
they remain in the system and partially paralyze 
the nerves controlling the muscles and they 
refuse to act. 

The fat or muscle making possibilities of 
various foods and the animal's actual condition 
can be studied very intelligently by the use, 
after exercise or work, of a small clinical ther- 
mometer. When the maximum amount of work- 
short of actual exhaustion produces the mini- 
mum degree of heat as registered by the ther- 
mometer, the animal is in the best condition 
and the foods that will produce these results 
are the foods to be adopted, and those that 
create the greatest heat for a given amount of 
work are to be avoided. 

As a general working system it can be laid 



Modern Breaking 157 

down that the quantity of meat can be reduced 
during the close season and increased during 
the working season to almost an all-meat diet 
with satisfactory results. Unbolted wheat flour 
is the most desirable of grains. Wheat flour, 
rye or barley shorts, should be baked as bread 
pones and allowed to cool and afterward bro- 
ken up and softened with meat liquor, soup 
or milk. Corn-meal is a popular food with 
trainers, probably on account of its price, ease 
in obtaining and preparing, but it is a fat 
producer and not a muscle builder. Xo horse 
trainer would feed it to a thoroughbred when 
conditioning him for a race, and while some 
trainers feel satisfied with the way their dogs 
thrive on it, the animals would undoubtedly 
be capable of greater muscular development 
if fed on one of the other grains. 

A very good way of preparing food for a 
string of dogs is to purchase a few sheeps' 
heads, a couple of beeves' heads, or twenty 
or thirty pounds of chucks or neck pieces 
chopped fine. Boil the heads in a kettle until 
they are thoroughly cooked, and the meat can 
be scraped easily from the bones. This meat 
then should be chopped or shredded into small 
pieces and mixed with from three to six times 
its weight of whole wheat flour, rye or corn- 
meal, softened and worked up with the soup 
liquor. To this may be added enough black 



158 Modern Breaking 

molasses to slightly sweeten the whole. Bake 
thoroughly over a slow fire and afterward al- 
low it to cool and dry, in which condition it 
will keep indefinitely. When it is to be fed 
break it up into pieces and feed dry, or soften 
it with meat or vegetable soup. This food can 
also be improved by adding vegetables, such as 
carrots, turnips, beets, onions or cabbage, in the 
proportion of one pound of vegetables to from 
five to ten pounds of meat and grain. 

The sportsman owning only one or two dogs, 
who conditions his dogs on food prepared in 
this way, and who carries with him a sufficient 
quantity to provide for his dogs while on a 
hunting trip, will be amply repaid by their 
superior condition, and will never go back to 
a makeshift diet of table scraps. 

Spratt's dog biscuits simplify the feeding 
problem and the professional trainer or sports- 
man who uses them as a staple diet can go on 
an extended hunting trip or even to remote 
sections of the country, where there are no 
conveniences for preparing food, and feel sure 
of his dog having a properly balanced ration. 
The ordinary dog biscuit contains a proportion 
of meat sufficient only for a dog during the 
close season. When hunting or training it is 
advisable to use Spratt's special biscuits pre- 
pared with the proportion of meat doubled or 
trebled. It is an ideal food for a hunting dog 



Modern Breaking 159 

and when everything is taken into considera- 
tion far more economical than any makeshift. 

The number of meals a dog should be given 
daily is a matter frequently discussed. A light 
meal in the morning (fed dry), such as two 
or three dog biscuits or their equivalent, and 
a full meal at night will be found satisfactory. 
If the dog is to be worked in the morning omit 
the morning meal entirely or let it consist of 
something that will be promptly digested, such 
as one or two raw eggs beaten up with cracker 
crumbs. Under no circumstances should a 
dog be worked directly after feeding a full 
meal. The stomach, like all muscles and or- 
gans, requires, during action, an increased 
blood supply. During exercise the blood is 
drawn from the stomach and other internal 
organs to other parts of the body, and the food, 
instead of being digested, lies as a heavy load 
with, a liability to ferment and produce a 
diarrhoea or dysentery that will incapitate the 
animal. Table' scraps and "pick ups," if clean 
and fresh, free from fat and grease (they sel- 
dom are), may be tolerated for house or pet 
dogs, but the sportsman who attempts to take 
his dog through a hard season's hunting on 
such food is blind to his dog's interests. 

EXERCISE. 

The young dog during his training season or 
during preparation for a field trial generally 



:6o Modern Breaking 

gets all the exercise he needs, that should be 
limited only by his powers of endurance and 
the trainer's judgment. At least one month 
is required to get an old dog, which has had a 
six months' rest, more or less, into condition 
to do good field work. During the close season 
the dog has probably loafed around his owner's 
home, office or shop, been irregular about his 
meals, and has become an expert beggar of 
dainties. He is pounds overweight, with a 
thick, woolly coat, short of breath, flabby of 
muscle, and the pads of his feet are soft and 
spongy. His bowels are irregular, generally 
with a tendency to constipation, and a short 
run leaves him exhausted and footsore. 

He must be taken in hand and brought down 
to a systematic routine of diet and exercise. 
If necessary, chain him up so that his time is 
accountable. If there is a tendency to consti- 
pation, give him two ounces of castor oil, and 
if necessary repeat it. The dog should be 
placed on two meals a day of good, wholesome 
food, such as has been described previously ; 
the proportion of meat can be increased slightly. 
Give him a short run in the morning before 
feeding, and at some time during the day give 
a mile or two of slow road work, following 
a bicycle or buggy — and the distance you 
travel with him should be gradually increased 
until he is allowed to exercise while vou are 



Modern Breaking 161 

traveling from three to six miles or even fur- 
ther. On returning carefully brush his coal, 
sponge the dirt from the corners of his eyes and 
nostrils, and examine his feet for cuts and 
bruises or obstructions between his toes. His 
entire body and limbs then should be mas- 
saged gently and hand- rubbed ; this will pre- 
vent stiffness and soreness, and if he is given a 
good meal, one of Dent's Pepsinated Condition 
Pills and a comfortable place in which to sleep 
he will lie down contented and be as bright as 
a new dollar the next morning. Dent's Pep- 
sinated Condition Pills are a wonderful tonic 
for dogs that every owner should keep on 
hand. They cure a variety of ailments that 
are classed under the one head of out of con- 
dition. Their use insures the proper action 
of the liver, kidneys and bowels. Dogs which 
are hard to get into condition, those which are 
weak, thin and unthrifty, constantly shedding 
hair or having harsh, staring coats, weak, wa- 
tery eyes, high-colored urine frequently passed 
in dribbles, indigestion, coughing, gagging 
and attempting to vomit, dreamy, disturbed 
sleep, rumbling of the bowels and a general 
air of neglect, should be given a full course 
of treatment with these pills, as they come 
very near being a veritable canine panacea. 

MASSAGE. 

Nothing in the entire range of hygienic 
knowledge is so easy of application a**-d of such 



162 Modern Breaking 

prompt and lasting benefit as massage. The 
medical profession is applying it more and 
more, while among horsemen and athletes it is 
as old as is their history. 

During severe exercise the heart beats with 
increased force and rapidity, and the blood is 
forced through the large arteries into the smal- 
ler capillaries which thread through the muscles 
and give them their nourishment. A muscle 
is made up of bundles of filamentous muscle 
fibers that move more or less upon each other. 
So long as the exercise continues up to the 
point of exhaustion, the blood supply is forced 
by the heart down through these small vessels, 
and then is drawn back to the heart by the 
vacuum created in the chest cavity by the al- 
ternate expansion and contraction of the lungs 
and the pressure upon the veins of the con- 
stantly moving muscles surrounding them. 
(The veins are fitted with small valves, so 
that the pressure upon them will only permit 
of the blood being sent one way and that toward 
the heart.) 

When exercise ceases the heart for a time 
continues its rapidity of action and forces the 
blood to the extremities, but as there is no 
action of the muscles to keep up the return 
circulation in the veins the blood stagnates in 
the small capillaries surrounding the muscle 
fibers and agglutinates them together ; the 



Modern Breaking 163 

limbs stock or swell and stiffness or soreness 
results. Hand rubbing- of the muscles and 
limbs breaks down this agglutination, forces the 
blood out of the smaller capillaries into the 
larger veins, where it is distributed to the 
stomach, liver, lungs, brain and other organs 
that require it, allowing digestion to proceed 
naturally, thereby resting and soothing the ani- 
mal and leaving the muscles pliable and elastic. 
There are different methods of massage. 
Some conduct the movement toward the body, 
others toward the extremities. All that is 
necessary to derive satisfactory results is a 
gentle kneading of the muscles to stimulate the 
superficial circulation and prevent and break 
down any agglutination of the muscular fibers. 
Ten or fifteen minutes' work on a dog after 
he has had a hard day's work, either in the 
hunting field or after a field trial heat, is all 
that is required for this treatment. 

EXCESSIVE FATNESS. 

Some dogs take on flesh so rapidly as to 
almost constitute a disease. Bitches which are 
not allowed to breed and aged animals are 
prone to accumulation of fat about the lungs, 
heart, liver, . kidneys and vital organs. Ex- 
cessive fat brings on wheezing, asthmatic 
coughing and panting at the slightest exertion. 
It is impossible to get these fleshy subjects to 



164 Modern Breaking 

exercise to a proper extent, and to get them in 
working- condition is a serious task. 

Treatment. — Give a brisk purgative two or 
three times a week and give one of Dent's 
Blood Purifying and Cooling Pills three times 
a day after feeding. Gradually decrease the 
allowance of food and feed only stale bread, dog 
biscuits or crackers, dry if they will eat them ; 
if not, moisten with a very little milk or thin 
soup; do not feed grease, fat, potatoes or sweets 
of any kind. As the food is decreased, slowly 
increase the amount of exercise, and as the 
animal gradually comes into form omit the 
purgatives and feed raw lean beef, chopped fine 
— gradually increasing the amount. 

SORE FEET. 

The spongy, elastic pads which form the foot 
covering require considerable attention. 

Dogs out of condition and suffering from 
lack of exercise, when put down for field work 
on rough ground, short stubble or hard prairie, 
frequently have these pads worn so thin or so 
badly bruised after a few hours' work as to be 
unable to proceed, and it is not an uncommon 
thing for inflammation to set in of such severity 
that the feet swell, becoming hot and painful, 
so that the dog cannot stand on them. Matter 
forms between the layers of the soles of the 
feet and the outer covering of the pads sloughs 



Modern Breaking 165 

off, thus at the beginning of the season com- 
pletely incapacitating the dog for work. 

Trouble of this kind can be avoided by grad- 
ually hardening the feet by daily road runs. 
Carefully examine the feet at night for cuts or 
bruises, and if any be found dust them with 
powdered boracic acid. Hound trainers fre- 
quently resort to the following treatment for 
hardening or protecting the feet of dogs which 
are short of work : Take half a pint of the oil 
of tar ; pour a small quantity on a plank, shingle 
or shallow dish ; put the dog's foot squarely 
into this, then remove and place the foot in a 
pan of Fuller's earth. Do this with all four 
feet, every other day, for a week, and once a 
week during the hunting season, and there will 
be little danger of sore feet. 

All dogs come in at night from the hunting 
field with the feet more or less sore, feverish 
and inflamed. They should be washed carefully 
in cold water, all dirt or obstructions between 
the toes removed, and the foot placed for ten 
minutes in a saturated solution of boracic acid. 
This may be repeated each morning. The fol- 
lowing lotion can be freely used : Tincture of 
arnica, calendula and matico, of each one-half 
ounce, tincture of opium one ounce, witch-hazel 
and water in equal parts to make one pint. 

When the soles slough off, as they do some- 
times, trim off all ragged portions and poultice 



166 Modern Breaking 

the feet for twenty-four hours with linseed meal 
so as to reduce the inflammation ; then paint 
the bottom of the feet three times a day with a 
three per cent solution of the bichloride of 
mercury ; nothing equals it as a grower of shoe 
leather for dogs, and within forty-eight hours 
the dog, which, to all appearances, appeared to 
be laid up for a week or ten days, will be able to 
walk around fairly comfortably. 

LAMENESS. 

Lameness may be ascribed to innumerable 
causes. Thorns sometimes work up into the sole 
or between the toes, or a sudden wrench may 
affect the muscles of the back or a ligament of 
the legs or shoulders. Field dogs are seriously 
affected with rheumatism as the result of a 
sudden chill caused from a cold rain or a damp 
kennel. When the dog is called in the morning 
and does not respond, and is not inclined to 
move, or comes dragging himself out with his 
back arched or forefeet advanced, and shrinks 
from the hand, it can be set down that he has 
rheumatism. He is sore all over ; the fore- 
quarters generally are affected, and even if the 
animal is able to move, a stiffness is noticed in 
the forelegs, particularly when moving down 
hill, where the weight is thrown forward. 

Even a slight attack of this kind should re- 
ceive treatment. Give the patient a warm 
bath, in a warm room, rub dry and carefully 



Modern Breaking 167 

massage the limbs. Then take of aconite lini- 
ment two ounces, of camphor liniment six 
ounces, and rub well into the limbs for at least 
half an hour — wipe off all the liniment that 
remains on the clog's coat — blanket warmly 
and muzzle the dog so that he cannot lick the 
Mniment, as it is a powerful poison ; give a 
purgative of castor-oil or salts, and three times 
a day give ten grains of salol and three grains 
of quinine in either water or in a gelatin cap- 
sule, until a cure is effected. 

CLIPPING. 

Some trainers resort to clipping the coats of 
setters during the warm season. This leaves 
the setter in the same condition as a pointer 
so far as his coat is concerned, and while the 
removal of the thick coat of the setter is a 
relief to him both as to heat and the accumu- 
lation of burrs, it is an operation that must 
be repeated yearly, and its effect upon the coat 
is not the best. There can be no objection 
raised to clipping off the feather on the tail and 
legs, as during the course of the season it 
would be worn off. 



CHAPTER XVIII. 



DON T. 



DON'T begin training a young dog too 
early or repeat his lessons too often. 

Don't strike a puppy, neither should you scold 
nor rave at him. 

Don't strike an aged dog until you have 
tried the effects of scolding. 

Don't let a dog go away from you after 
whipping him without gaining his friendship, 
but don't pet or caress him too much. 

Don't beat a dog with a club ; use a whip 
and a small one at that. 

Don't kick a dog or be a brute. 

Don't shout at a dog or attempt to bully him. 

Don't have spectators around when you are 
training your dog. 

Don't continue his lessons too iong or tire him 
out. 

Don't talk too much to your dog or keep 
nagging at him. 

Don't confuse your dog with too many 
orders. 

Don't try to show off your dog to friends ; 
he may disappoint you. 

Don't keep a dog chained to a kennel. 



Modern Breaking 169 

Don't forget to feed a puppy little and often. 
Don't forget to treat a puppy for worms. 
Don't forget to take precautions against dis- 
temper. 

Don't dose a dog with everybody's cure-alls. 

Don't allow your dog to sleep on wet straw 
or in a cold, damp, drafty kennel. 

Don't forget to feed your dog yourself, nor 
to frequently change his bedding and clean his 
yard. 

Don't forget the importance of a variety in 
his diet and a goodly proportion of vegetables. 

Don't believe that the more a dog eats the 
better it will be for him. A light meal in the 
morning and a full meal at night are what he 
needs. 

Don't loan your dog. 

Don't feed your dog between meals. 

Don't forget that your dog is a sociable ani- 
mal and needs companionship. 

Don't forget that a dog which is afraid of 
you is easily confused. 

Don't forget to retain your dog's confidence 
by rational actions. 

Don't forget that a six-month-old puppy is 
lacking in experience in the world's affairs. 



